Book 1: Exes and Uh Oh!
by Number Ten
Summary: A mystery series featuring Once characters. Hopefully will turn it into a series. Inspired by colormyheartred's story. Life in the small town of Storybrooke becomes dark when a series of break-ins turns the community upside down. Emma struggles to investigate and keep her life together until she realizes that the suspect has a vendetta against her and those she loves.
1. Chapter 1: Too Many

Hello, Readers. This is my own version of what the Once characters could be like as mystery solving team. I want to thank colormyheartred for starting with _Mystery Incorporated_ and inspiring me. Just to give you guys some background, I'm featuring my own character, Crystal Miller, she's Rumple's daughter from a previous relationship and he has sole custody since Crystal's mother has died. Also, Rumple's a womanizer. If you want to learn more about her, Read Once Upon Another Time on my page. Also, Neal, Graham, and all those guys are still alive. Emma and Neal share custody of Henry, Regina isn't evil, Mary Margret and David aren't Emma's parents, (as far as they know) but they do have baby Neal. There won't be a lot of magic in this story, it'll take place on a more realistic scale. Please review because like colormyheartred, I might turn it into a series. All rights go to ABC for the characters and location. Any characters I create are mine.

Enjoy

…

 _"_ _I'm wanted… dead or alive."_

Emma Swan moans and lifts her from the pillow. Her phone is buzzing and lighting up on her nightstand. With annoyance, she grabs her phone, her hand going past a picture of her, her ex-boyfriend, Neal and their son, Henry, whom they share custody of. She checks the ID.

 _Graham_

Why is he calling? Today's my day off? She knows she always has to keep her phone on in case of an emergency, but what kind of emergencies exist in the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. The worst crime ever committed here was an overdue parking ticket.

"Hello?" Emma says groggily.

"Mornin' Emma," Graham's Irish accent comes over the ear piece. "Did I wake you?"

"No, I'm always up early on my day off," she mutters sarcastically.

"I'm so sorry darlin', but do you know where Joel put the keys for the back storage closet? We're runnin' low on file folders again." That is hard to believe

"Check the main desk, the second drawer on the left, under the box of paper clips."

"Thank you, See you tomorrow."

"Good-bye," Emma says before hanging up. She puts her phone back on the nightstand and rolls over, placing her head back down on the pillow. Why does it seem like I become the station 'mother' whenever Joel puts something away without Graham's knowledge? Emma likes her job, she works as a private investigator for the Storybrooke police force, she's under Sheriff Graham Humbert and Deputy Joel Sanders, but it seems that sometimes she has to run everything on the force. She wasn't even there very often, she mostly worked from home and yet Graham relied on her for knowing everything. Graham is distracted often by a certain young female woman, namely Lily Page, and the new guy, Joel Sanders... Emma didn't know a lot about him, just that he came from Boston and he looked a little familiar to her.

Just as her eyelids are getting reacquainted, the _Imperial March_ from _Star Wars_ comes on and her phone vibrates again.

 _What now?!_ She moans in anger and reaches over to see the ID.

 _Neal_

The man she cannot believe that she's actually on speaking terms with and that's only because of Henry. Emma will do anything for her son.

She and Neal were partners in crime, literally. They met not long after Emma had run away from her final foster home, back when she was seventeen. She tried hotwiring the car that Neal was sleeping in, which turned out not to be his either. They grew close and only stole what they needed to survive. It all changed when Emma was arrested for something that Neal did and he seemed to vanish completely after that. It was a dose of reality for her and it wasn't too long after that she found out she was pregnant. Nine months later, she gave birth to their son, Henry Swan. Emma didn't want to keep him, she didn't want to raise a child in prison, but when she heard his voice for the first time, she couldn't resist holding him. When their eyes met for the first time, she fell instantly in love.

After she was released from prison, she cleaned up her act and worked hard to make a life for her and Henry in Boston. She made an honest living, had little contact with Neal and shielded herself from any other harmful relationships for the most part. That is until Henry was older and started asking questions about his father, a subject Emma avoided like the plague. Her son then became determined to know his birth father. He tracked Neal down to the small town of Storybrooke and with reluctance, Emma went with him to see the man who broke her heart. Neal apologized and understood that Emma would probably never forgive him, but he did want to get to know Henry as much as possible. He told Emma that he also served time for the crime and when he heard she got pregnant, he even tried to make a case to let her out early, for Henry's sake. Neal knew Emma would never forgive him, so he cut all ties, never tried to get in touch with Emma and went back to Storybrooke to live with his father and step-sister. Emma and Henry soon moved to Storybrooke and she and Neal now shared custody of Henry, with visitations and such. Emma soon fell in love with the town, as did Henry and they never looked back. It was hard for awhile to adjust to small town life, but they made it work.

"Hello?" Emma says into the phone, not doing a very good job of hiding her annoyance.

"Hi, Emma, sorry to wake you, I just wanted to know if you were picking up Henry after school and when I have him again?"

"I am picking him up at 3:20 and I have him until Wednesday and then he's at your place until Saturday. Don't forget to pack his yearbook money today and make sure he wears a jacket."

"Yes, I will. See you later."

Emma hangs up and tosses her phone back where it belongs. She flops her head back down and closes her eyes.

She's about to drift off…

 _Every morning I think of you…_

Emma wants to scream out. She rolls back over and fumbles to find her device. She looks at the screen

 _Killian_

Finally, someone she actually wanted to talk to. Killian was a "sailor" on the docks and had his own boat known as _The Jolly Roger,_ but Emma knew that he was a pirate, shipping things wherever they were needed. He was a drinker most of the time and had a bit of a tragic past, losing his brother in a boating accident. He mostly kept to himself until Henry and Emma moved into town, then he was instantly smitten with Emma. He asked her out over a million times and she turned him down a million times…at least. Emma didn't want a relationship, her history with Neal and the fact that she went from foster home to foster home didn't help either. She didn't want a boyfriend, at least not at the moment with Henry and work, and she explained this to Killian many times and still he pursued her. Eventually, he wore her down and she said yes. It wasn't long after that Emma realized that she liked Killian. The man, dared she say was "dashingly handsome," mischievous, kind and respectful. She felt safe around him and he treated her like a queen.

A few dates later, after one bad day at work and a LOT of liquor, she and Killian ended up in bed together. It wasn't her proudest moment, but it also wasn't her worst one either. Since then, she and Killian saw each other whenever they could, but kept it a secret, just for the sake of Henry and not making everything more complicated.

"I was hoping I'd hear from you," Emma says into the phone.

"Good morning Swan, did I wake you?"

"Not really, I've already been woken up by Graham and Neal about other things so it really doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry you're not having a good day Love," he says. Emma blushes.

"It's no big deal, I may have a better day if I see you,"

"So I was wondering if you might be interested in a night on _The_ _Jolly Roger_. Candles, some wine, a little dinner and something else perhaps…?"

Emma smiles and blushes again. "That is very tempting, but unfortunately, I have Henry until Wednesday and then I agreed to work two graveyard shifts at the station after that."

Killian sighs on the other end. "That is disappointing, I miss you."

"You saw me two days ago,"

"Two days is different out at sea," Killian says.

"According to you, look I'm going to _Granny's_ later today, maybe we can meet up there?"

"Maybe, and maybe I can greet you with a kiss?"

"You know how I feel about that," Emma says firmly.

"Aye, I do, but you do realize your refusals do hurt, a man can only take so much rejection."

"Said by the man who asked me out fifty times,"

"It was thirty and you did eventually say yes. You know you can't resist me."

Emma rolls her eyes.

"We can have lunch together, but nothing too public, agreed?"

"Aye,"

"I'll call you later," Emma says. "Goodbye, Captain Killian."

"Goodbye my beautiful swan," Killian says before they both hang up.

Emma sighs and stares at her phone for a long moment. Killian was great…but things were just too complicated. Living in the town with her ex, keeping her past under wraps, working as a private investigator and raising her teenage son; it was a lot to deal with. She didn't need a seaside romance with an actual pirate thrown into it too.

Emma showers and dresses before heading downtown. She promised to meet her friend Mary Margret there for coffee like they did ever morning before she went to school. Mary Margret was a teacher at Henry's old elementary school and she was married to David Nolan, who ran the taxi service in town. She was one of the first people to greet Emma and actually try to become friends with her. Emma grew to like Mary Margret, establishing a friendly connection she wasn't always known for. Emma looked up to Mary Margret, almost like a mother, but Mary Margret often went to Emma for parenting advice. David and Mary Margret had recently welcomed a son, whom they also named Neal. Why that name, Emma wasn't sure, but one could assume that since Neal and David ran the taxi service together and had been friends for years; the couple decided to honor him. There wasn't much confusion as the baby had a nickname, little Neo, mostly due to his babysitter. But regardless of the name, Emma adored baby Neal and saw David and Mary Margret as the family she never had.

Emma walks out the front door and locks the small two-bedroom house that was on the end of Main Street, Storybrooke. It wasn't perfect, definitely needed to be fixed up when they bought it three years ago, but Emma had made it a home for both of them. It had a lawn in the front with an ancient oak tree that Neal had hung a swing from for Henry and the two would play catch or read under the tree during their visits.

Emma walks into _Granny's_ , the town's favourite restaurant and probably **only** restaurant within fifty miles. The food was good and the atmosphere friendly. The usual breakfast crowd chats amongst one another. She goes to the counter and sits on a round stool. A skinny waitress, with her hair streaked with crimson colouring, stands there in her apron and dressed in a rather skimpy outfit.

"Hey Ruby," Emma says. "Can you put a double shot of espresso in the coffee today, I had an early morning and get the usual for Mary Margret."

"Sure thing," Ruby chirps and writes it down on a notepad.

The door opens again and in walks Crystal, a friend of Emma's. She was eighteen years old but looked fairly younger. She had bright blue eyes and long brown hair that was often pulled back into a ponytail, especially when she was thinking very hard. She smiles when she sees Emma and hops up on a bar stool next to her.

"Coffee and the usual Ruby please," Crystal says politely.

"Coming right up," Ruby says and adds it to the order wheel above the kitchen.

"You look tired Emma," Crystal says. "You spend the night with Killian again?"

"Shut up!" Emma snaps and lowers her voice. "You know I don't want you to talk about him in public."

"Then why are you sleeping with him?' Crystal says in a hushed voice.

Emma goes bright red, but Ruby saves her by pouring both of them a cup of coffee and adding the espresso shots.

"I don't even know how you know this," Emma says, taking a sip of coffee.

"Because I'm your friend and friends notice things."

"Friends also keep each other's secrets," Emma snaps. "And don't announce who they're sleeping with in a crowded restaurant."

"You're right, I'm sorry, but seriously, why are you so tired?"

"Because my phone wouldn't shut up this morning! I got calls from Graham, Neal and…you know who,"

"You have too many men in your life," Crystal says with a good-humoured smirk. "My dad, on the other hand, has the opposite problem."

Emma rolls her eyes, not needing a reminder that Crystal speaks the truth. Calling her father a womanizer would be the understatement of the year. Mr. Gold was one of the better financially off men in Storybrooke, running a trades/pawn business. His motto was that _everything had a price_. This saying also applied to his personal life and to his relationship with Crystal. Gold was older Neal's father from his first and only marriage, but after she upped and left him, Gold kind of broke down after that. He began opening his bed up to as many women as he could and taking frequent business trips to the cities when the population of women in Storybrooke ran out. That is where Crystal came in. One of Gold's business trips ended up creating new life. Crystal's mother never had contact with Gold, for the same reasons that Emma had for Neal. That is until Crystal's mother died in a car crash when she was nine. The courts tracked down Gold and Crystal then became Gold's responsibility. Even with this new addition to the family, things hardly changed for Gold. He continued his rampage of one-night stands and broken hearts, which was partially the reason that Neal left home so young. He once told Emma that he had constant fights with his father about his relationships and finally gave up and basically ran away from home. Crystal, however, stayed with Gold; she tolerated his lady friends and simply grew to accept him despite his flaws. Her reasoning was that he and Neal were her only family left and no one ever dared to press her any further about it.

"We all know that," Emma says. "Who is it this week?"

"You know that new librarian?" Crystal asks while mixing cream into her mug.

"Lacey French?"

"Yeah her, he took her out to dinner the other night and then brought her home for some wine and…" Crystal doesn't need to finish and she sips some of her coffee. Emma grimaces in response.

"She must be new to the area if she doesn't know his reputation. I don't know how you stand to live with him."

Crystal shrugs and drinks some more of her coffee. "He's my dad and besides, I stay at Mary Margret's house most nights anyways." This was true as Crystal avoided her house at night like the plague, Neal also had moved into a small apartment to get away from everything. This worked out well for Crystal as she was able to babysit little "Neo" as part of her rent and work on her online classes for her college program.

Just as Crystal finishes her sentence, Mary Margret comes into the diner with Neal in his baby carrier. She is dressed in a pink sweater and simple black top and her matching pink skirt ruffles as she moves towards the counter. She has her briefcase in her other hand and diaper bag slung over her shoulder. Her dark hair styled up in a sleek bob and her pale skin accented with some pink blush, but also the flush of her face from running or stress.

"Speak of the devil," Emma says. "I got you your usual,"

"Thank you, Emma, I don't know what I'd do without you." Mary Margret says, practically panting.

"Hopefully, you'll never have to find out," Emma says with a smile. She then notices how flustered her friend looks. "You look like hell, what happened this morning?"

"David forgot to set the alarm this morning so I overslept and I had to print a math test out from the computer. I barely ate breakfast when I had to go out the door and I almost forgot Neal."

The tiny tot coos and gurgles from his carrier, smiling at the excitement around him.

"Sorry M," Crystal says. "I would've woken you, but I had to get up to get clean clothes and grab my laptop for class. I also had to make sure my dad didn't burn the house down and make sure that Lacey was gone." The way Crystal talked about her father, made it seem like Crystal was the adult and Gold was the teenager.

"Lacey?" Mary Margret says in shock. "He's seeing Lacey?"

"That might be a good story to write about," Regina Mills says coming up behind the group. Regina was another friend of Emma's, she was the editor of the town newspaper office and her mother, Cora, was the mayor of Storybrooke. Regina didn't like Emma at first and the feeling was mutual. For a long time, the two barely spoke, but that soon changed when Emma saved Regina from being hit by a car and after that, they respected each other and a friendship soon formed.

"You won't have enough paper in the world to cover all my dad's relationships," Crystal says bluntly.

The three women look Regina up and down. Her hair had not seen a brush at all, there were dark circles under her eyes, her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, there was a run in her pantyhose and her entire body was hunched over in exhaustion.

"I take it back, **_you_** look like hell," Emma says.

"I had to pull an all-nighter," Regina sighs and slumps onto a stool. "I downed two Red Bulls and six espresso shots just to keep myself awake. Sydney completely screwed up a story we were going to run, the one about the recent break-ins down by the toll bridge."

"I heard about that," Mary Margret says. "Some of the kids at school were talking about it."

"It's the strangest thing, though," Regina says. "The guy only ever uses the back window, most likely with a crowbar, he always does it when the people aren't home and he never takes anything. He only ransacks, it's as if there is nothing of worth to him. Expensive jewelry, gaming systems, even purses out in the open. It's the strangest thing."

Emma nods. These break-ins were the current news of Storybrooke and something the police force had to deal with. Emma, Joel, and Graham had been called to three houses in the past couple of days to dust for prints and get witness statements. There wasn't much evidence to really reassure anyone that they were in pursuit of a suspect and the only thing they could do was make sure people locked their doors at night. It was slightly unsettling for everyone, very rarely do things like this happen, but when they do, they scare the whole town. Regina had been pestering all of them to get details on the paper, but there wasn't much any of them on the police force could give.

"Or he could be looking for something and hasn't found it yet," Crystal suggests as Ruby brings the eighteen-year-old her food. "Thanks, Ruby."

"No problem, you need something, Regina?" Ruby asks.

"A hot shower and some Xanax if you have any," Regina mutters, her head in her hands.

"How about some regular coffee?" Ruby suggests, not really in the mood for any of Regina's complaints.

"That'll be fine," Regina sighs.

Mary Margret rocks Neal back and forth to soothe him and Crystal eats her breakfast.

"So Crystal, Ashley is having Baby Time at Aurora's house today as Sean is re-painting the living room and then maybe just take him around the neighbourhood today,"

"Sure," Crystal says. "I was hoping to check out the new park that Cora built last month. The one that looks like a castle."

"That's a good idea," Mary Margret says. "The kids in my class have not stopped talking about it and pretty much everyone makes plans to play there after school now."

"It was pretty creative on your mom's part," Emma says earnestly. Though Henry was a teenager now, he still liked to sit on the swings with his friends or play ball with Neal as part of their bonding.

"And it only took half the town's taxes to pay for it," Regina says. She runs her hands through her hair as Ruby pours Regina her coffee.

"What's your mom suggesting for this break-in situation?" Emma asks.

"I seriously doubt she cares right now, with the election coming up, she has enough on her plate."

Regina has the unfortunate privilege of living with her mother and being there for all the drama.

"It would work in her favor to show at least some concern," Crystal points out.

"She can do what she wants," Regina shrugs. "I'm not her campaign manager, that's Sydney's job when he isn't messing up the newspaper."

The door opens and Killian enters. Emma immediately tries not to blush as he comes to the counter, his leather jacket open and his shirt exposing his chest despite the chilly autumn air. He wore rings on his fingers and several chains around his neck, making him look like a member of a biker gang instead of a pirate. Emma knew that each of his accessories had a story, several of them were associated with his brother Liam. Killian was a pirate by trade, or so he claimed, but Emma saw him more as a man without a job. Along with his black leather jacket, Killian often wore eyeliner, which enhanced his already hypnotic blue eyes. Regina had gotten into the habit of calling him "Captain Guyliner."

"Morning ladies and lad," he says. "Swan."

Crystal shoots a side-glance at Emma and buries her smile in some of her breakfast. Regina and Mary Margret also smile knowingly. Like Crystal said, friends notice things.

"Can I get an omelet with home fries this morning please Ruby darling," Killian asks.

"Coming up," Ruby says and disappears into the kitchen.

Killian takes the empty seat next to Emma and does his best not to glance over at her. He respected her wishes to keep their relationship a secret, mostly because he didn't want to lose her. He saw her as beautiful, a woman who had stolen his heart, despite her constant warnings to stay away. He persevered, completely ignoring how complicated the situation was; to him, love was not complicated and he cared for Emma in every way.

Regina's beeper goes off.

"Oh…damn it!" she mutters.

"Sidney again?" Mary Margret asks.

"Know anyone else in this town who pushes me to the brink of insanity?"

"Emma used to," Crystal says light-heartedly. Emma shoots her and dirty look.

"He wants to change the front page story again; I've got to go."

"Don't work too hard," Killian says as Regina takes her coffee to go.

"I think it's a little late for that," Emma whispers as the reporter exits the restaurant.

"I have to go too," Mary Margret says, paying for her coffee. "I have to make photocopies of that math test."

Mary Margret hands Neal's baby seat and diaper bag to the babysitter kisses her son, says goodbye to Emma and Killian and then leaves.

Crystal knows when three's a crowd, she digs her purse out of her book bag.

"Here Ruby," she says, handing the money over. "Keep the change." Crystal also tips Ruby.

"You two have a nice breakfast; I'll see you later."

Crystal scoops up Neal's carrier and bag before heading out the door.

Emma is almost upset that her friends have left abruptly, leaving her with the man she's secretly dating. They were basically announcing to the whole restaurant that they were together. Ruby serves Killian his breakfast and the two sit in silence.

Killian takes a few bites of his meal before speaking.

"Would you like some Swan?" he offers.

"No thank you," Emma says.

"Breakfast is important you know,"

"I know, but I'm not that hungry right now."

"I highly doubt that," Killian says, he offers her some of his home fries. Emma reluctantly takes them. They eat in silence for awhile as the diner begins to clear out, people starting their days at work or school.

Killian finishes and then turns to Emma.

"Would you like to go down to the boat?" he asks.

Emma nods reluctantly. She pays for both their meals and then they walk towards the dock. They walk in silence most of the ways, Emma's arms wrapped around her upper arms as if she was cold and Killian's hands are in his leather jacket pockets. The streets were relatively quiet as everyone settled into their work day, but the two kept their distance to avoid suspicion.

The docks were deserted except for Killian's boat _The Jolly Roger_ , tied to the farthest part of the shipyard. The masts of the ship tower over them, blowing in the morning breeze.

Killian hops onto the deck and Emma follows him. The ship rocks slightly with their movement, but the effect is soothing.

Killian stares out at the horizon for a few moments, gathering his bearings. He leans over the side of the ship for a moment. He takes in a deep breath, knowing he will hate what comes next.

"We can always call this off Swan…" he says sadly. "If you cannot handle the stress right now."

Emma's heart suddenly drops to her stomach and she becomes worried. She knew she had been keeping her distance, but it's just how she's always been to avoid getting hurt. Her relationship with Neal hurt and several of her other previous relationships did too. She wanted to avoid any more pain to an already complex situation And yet…she couldn't live without Killian; she can't imagine her life in Storybrooke without him. He made her smile, he made her laugh, he respected her and he didn't push her too hard. He loved spending time with Henry and overall, he made her day a little bit brighter. She cared about him too. She looks into his deep blue eyes and she's practically hypnotized by them. She can see her own reflection look back at her, a woman she did not like, someone who was resentful and detached…not someone that Killian deserved and yet.

Emma walks towards Killian slowly. She looks at him for a moment before kissing him passionately.


	2. Chapter 2: Something is Wrong

Crystal pushes Neal on the swing at the playground, the tiny tot kicking happily. Several other children climb up the plastic steps that are meant to look like stones of a castle and two others slide down a slide that was made to look like a drawbridge. A few more chase one another around the swings where Emma pushes Neal on swings that are sculpted to look like a green dragon. There were poles, climbing equipment, foam swords, plastic shields, a small bridge made of wood connecting the structures, several more slides, monkey bars, tall turrets and even flags the flapped in the afternoon breeze. Cora even went as far to make the surface of the playground look like a moat filled with water using the sponge material that was safe for kids. Crystal just wished that she had this playground when she was growing up here, it would've been so much fun to use her imagination and create a new land filled with adventure and fantasy.

Neal seems quite content in the swing, waving his arms around playfully as if to touch the sky. Crystal is enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

She suddenly notices something out of the ordinary. At the corner of the park, far across the grassy lot, she sees a van pull out from a forested area. One of those types of vans that parents tell their children to avoid at all costs. The kind that is used for deliveries. It was a gray van, with no distinct marking on it. It parked on the curb of the side street for a moment, as if pausing. Crystal's heart begins to pound loudly in her chest and she becomes concerned for the safety of the children on the playground. She scoops Neal from the swing and sits down on the park bench, her eyes never leaving the vehicle.

Eventually, a man comes out from the van. He walks around it for a moment, removing any branches of vegetation from where it had been parked. Crystal can't see his face, he's wearing some kind of gray hoodie to match the van. Once the van is clean, he climbs into the van and starts it up. He then looks around to make sure no one is watching him, Crystal quickly averts her gaze and pretends to play with Neal. She prays the man never saw her and none of the kids did either. She hears the van start up and then drive away across the street. Crystal tries to catch the license plate number, but can't as it leaves too quickly.

Neal suddenly makes a wailing noise, trying to get his babysitter's attention. Crystal looks down and frowns at the little one.

"Something's amiss in Storybrooke Neo," she says to herself as he grabs onto her fingers and begins sucking on them.


	3. Chapter 3: Clues

"Another break-in?!" Regina says over the phone. "That's the fourth in two weeks!" Her hands typing furiously over the keyboard to catch the details from the informant. "Down in that area?! The guy is moving uptown. Even the same crime scene details?!" Regina's heart is pumping adrenaline. Never has this town seen such a rapid series of break-ins. It's definitely better than the usual stuff the paper is used for, local school events and advertising businesses, this could make the paper really popular and make her job a lot more interesting.

"I'll be down as soon as possible!" she says before hanging up the phone.

She rushes to grab her jacket and her camera, placed on top of a stack of old newspapers, rough copies that were filled with mistakes and a bunch of overdue bills instead of a coat rack. Bills that were for rent of the building because ever since the Internet took over, the Storybrooke newspaper had been declining in popularity, but Regina would not give up on it. When the previous head editor quit because he thought there was no point in fighting the World Wide Web, Regina took a risk. She got herself hired as the replacement editor, a position she shared with Sydney Glass and she worked day and night to bring the paper back to its former glory. Unfortunately, in such a small town, nothing was very interesting, so the entire company was struggling to stay afloat. Even her own mother thought she was crazy for trying to do the impossible and it was her mother who was asking for rent every month. It's why Regina pulled long hours, working her hardest to make enough money and she even sold her house and moved back in with her mother to help the office. She'd made many sacrifices and was not being rewarded. Even Sydney had given up, just publishing what he or her mother wanted. So when the break-ins started happening, Regina was putting her all into bringing the news to the town. She was excited and hopefully everything would pay off.

Hanging on her wall were her own articles, framed neatly, ones that she was extremely proud of and she hoped that this new series about the crime spree would follow.

"Sydney!" she shouts into the adjoining room of her crowded office. "Another break-in! I've got tomorrow's front page!"

No answer, but Regina basically does what she wants, she's the only one with enough faith now anyways.

Regina goes down to her car and starts up the engine.

She drives to the specified address.

…

Meanwhile, Emma is picking Henry up from school.

"Hi buddy, how was school?

"The same," Henry shrugs. He lifts his book bag up on his shoulder, giving his mom a side hug.

They walk across the front lawn towards Emma's yellow Volkswagen bug.

"Hi Henry!" a pretty girl waves at him as she passes in the opposite direction.

"Hi Violet," Henry says, trying not to blush.

"Friend of yours?" Emma asks.

"Hardly, just some girl in my chemistry class,"

Emma looks at her son for a long moment. She sees that his ears are red in embarrassment; she immediately suspects otherwise. Henry was fifteen, after all, he would obviously start to have crushes sooner or later. Emma wraps her arms around her shoulders and shudders slightly…her little boy growing up, something she was afraid of for a long time. Henry was growing distant from her, something she hated, but she had read multiple parenting books that said this was normal; teens rebel and detract from family life…he was figuring out who he was as a person. Emma knew that Henry was feeling isolated at school now. Due to his mother's past, he was sometimes teased by his peers. He also had an unhealthy addiction to mystery novels. He read them at every chance he got and he watched mystery shows until he had memorized the entire crime and knew every suspect by name. She had even been getting calls from his teachers telling him that he needs to apply himself more in class as his nose is always in a book. Emma knew that this was a phase, much like his fairy tale phase from when he was seven and it would pass with time. She was now hoping that this girl Violet might take his mind off mysteries for a little while and develop other interests.

Emma drives home deep in thought. She serves Henry Oreos and milk for a snack before he starts his homework. She sits watching him when her phone begins to vibrate.

"Hello?" she says.

"Emma, we need you down 'ere," Graham's voice says.

"Why can't Joel take care of it?" Emma says. "It's still my day off."

"I can't reach Joel," Graham says. "I'm all alone down 'ere and the fact that there's a break-in is drawing a crowd. I need your 'elp!" Emma can hear the urgency in his voice.

Emma looks over at Henry, who is pretending to write out an algebra problem as he secretly listens to her conversation.

"I'll be right over," she sighs.

Henry looks up at her in eagerness.

"Break-in case?" he asks. He loves that his mom worked and still works for the police force, or at least partially. He was able to learn more about real-life crimes and mysteries and how the process really worked, instead of the heavy fictionalized versions in his books and TV shows.

Emma doesn't say anything.

"Please let me come to Mom," Henry begs. He gives her those puppy dog eyes that she knows she can't say no to. "This is the most interesting thing to happen in Storybrooke in a long time. I want to see you in action and I won't get in the way I promise."

Emma sighs heavily, she knows that Henry will continue to beg until she says yes.

"Fine, but after we're coming straight back and you're finishing your homework."

"Deal!"

…

The crime scene was taped off to keep the many curious townsfolk back. Graham's car was flashing its lights which drew, even more, attention to the scene as Emma's bug pulls up across the street. It seemed like everyone in town was there, even Ruby and Crystal. Crystal was rocking Neal back and forth in his stroller and trying to get a closer look. Emma also spotted Regina, which also didn't surprise her either, trying to get pictures and statements.

Emma and Henry start walking towards the scene.

"Stay behind the tape," Emma orders her son. She doesn't want to risk him getting hurt.

Henry nods and goes to chat with Crystal. Emma goes under the tape and finds Graham standing on the front lawn with a very shaken individual and his dog. It was Archibald Hopper, Archie for short, the town's resident psychiatrist. He held his Dalmatian, Pongo on a leash as the dog barks at all the surrounding people. Graham is taking notes as best he can at what Archie was saying. When Archie spots Emma, he smiles before continuing to talk

"I was literally just coming home from work when I heard Pongo barking like a maniac. He only ever does that when something is very wrong. So I rush inside and the entire place is ransacked. Pongo had been shut in a bedroom for some reason and thankfully he wasn't hurt."

"Was anything stolen?" Graham asks.

"No, nothing that I could find, but the weird thing is, he only went through my patient files, which is in a locked filing cabinet in my den, that was the most torn up and I always keep my den locked for obvious reasons."

"Did you notice anything else?" Graham asks.

"Just that the back window was open, it hadn't been smashed, but the thing had been opened with some force."

"With like a crowbar?" Emma suggests, remembering what Regina had said earlier about her articles.

"Exactly!" Archie says.

"Well I'm glad you're not 'urt," Graham says. "And your insurance should cover any damage, but I do suggest that you stay with a close friend until things can be fixed."

"I'll do that," Archie nods.

Graham pulls Emma over.

"Same as the last three…" he says. "No fingerprints, no tracks, nothing was stolen, no evidence of any kind…"

Emma can see the look of concern on his face. Graham took great pride in being able to be called the town sheriff, he cared about Storybrooke and felt the need to protect it. And when he couldn't find any evidence, it was like some big tragedy to him, like he was failing the entire town.

"It's fine Graham, I've caught people on less evidence than this." She says, which was mostly true. Some people who skipped out on bail, literally disappear without a trace, but Emma used her connections to track them down.

Emma begins to walk around Archie's house in search of any kind clues, something Graham may have missed due to him having to do everything himself.

She finds the window that had been pried open for the suspect to gain entry. She sees the scratch marks made by some sort of tool to get the window open wide enough to get into. It definitely looked like a crowbar was used.

She looks down at the ground under the window for any footprints or anything of significance. Archie's house leads into a back wooded area which would be the perfect cover to slip in and out unseen. She starts walking towards the trees, possibly re-tracing the intruder's steps. She makes it to the tree line, looking for anything that might be out of place. She looks behind a big oak tree and notices a scuffle in the dirt.

"Hey, Mom!"

Emma jumps three feet in the air and lets out a small squeak of surprise. She sees Crystal and Henry standing behind her, beside another old oak tree.

"What are you doing?!" Emma practically yells. "I told you to stay behind the tape!"

"We are," Crystal says, which was true, only the house had been taped off, which ended before the tree line.

"You shouldn't bet here; you know you might…"

"Contaminate evidence, I know Mom," Henry says. "But Crystal noticed something and she wanted to show me."

"What's that?" Emma says.

Crystal steps back and points to the ground, close to where the two of them had been standing. Where Crystal's finger pointed, Emma notices impressions in the dried mud, big ones.

"Tire tracks," Emma gasps. She immediately begins examining them carefully. They looked rather large, too big for any average sized car. The tire tracks had compressed surrounding vegetation until it led to a gravel path at the edge of the wood, which leads onto one of the side streets.

"Crystal thinks they're from a van," Henry explains. "And she says she saw a van being driven around by the new playground earlier today."

"I didn't get the license plate or a good look at who was driving it, but it was a gray van, a big one, for deliveries. I tried to tell Graham about it, but he completely shut me down," Crystal says.

"And I noticed this," Henry says and shows his mother.

Caught on one of the branches of a nearby bush was a scrap of paper, it looked like it had been torn up. It wasn't weathered down or stained by the surrounding wood, which means it had to have just landed here.

"I wonder what it's from," Crystal says.

"No idea," Emma says. She immediately picks up the phone to call Graham around. He rushes to the back, followed closely by Regina.

"What did you find Emma?" Graham asks.

"Actually, the kids found something," Emma says. "Tire tracks and some scrap of paper."

Regina immediately begins taking pictures and tries to get Henry and Crystal to talk to her. Graham gets a closer look at the evidence. He uses gloves to pick up the paper and bag it and has Regina take pictures of the tire tracks.

Emma gets a look at the small scrap of paper in the bag. She looks at it very carefully. There is some typing on it, but nothing makes sense from where is was torn. The thing was torn mid-sentence, but she could see that someone had circled a word in red pen on the page.

"That's newspaper!" Regina gasps.

"What?" Emma says.

"Newspaper, I recognize the font, it's from our newspaper."

"So our criminal keeps up with the local news?" Henry says in confusion.

"Maybe he's keeping track of the news to make sure he doesn't get caught," Crystal suggests. "So he won't make any mistakes."

Emma is impressed with Crystal's theory.

"Well, 'e certainly slipped up this time," Graham says.

"It was his fourth break-in, maybe he got careless, thinking he wouldn't be caught?" Henry says. "It's happened with serial killers and bank robbers."

Again Emma is impressed and she's actually happy that Henry was such a mystery buff.

Her phone suddenly vibrates in her pocket. She opens a text from Killian.

 _Thought maybe you and Henry would like pizza?_ It reads.

Emma smiles inwardly and responds. _Bring 2 house, Henry has homework_

"Come on Henry," Emma says. "Let's go get something to eat and leave Graham to his work."

"But…"

"Let's go, you've already disobeyed me once and you promised me you'd finish your homework."

Henry sighs. Emma puts her hand on his shoulder and begins guiding him back around the crime scene. Crystal, Regina, and Graham soon follow.

The crowd has dispersed a bit, mostly likely heading in for dinner as the sun begins to set behind the trees. Mary Margret pushes Neal's stroller out of the area and Crystal says good night before running to catch up with her.

Just then Joel walks up in his brown jacket, black pants and thick boots, his deputy badge hanging over his chest. His gray eyes and dark curly hair make him look almost shadowy in the setting sun. Pongo immediately starts barking and jumping wildly as Joel approaches, so much so that Archie has to use both hands to hold him back.

"Where the 'ell have you been?!" Graham practically barks. "I've 'ad to secure the scene, dust for prints, search for evidence and interview the witness, where were you this whole time?!" This was the first time that Emma had ever seen Graham really mad, he was usually a peaceful person, but Joel's absence had really made him angry.

"My phone battery died," Joel says. "I was out on my fitness hike and by the time I got back into town, someone told me what had happened so I went home to change and came over."

"Well, children found more evidence than you did!" Graham snaps.

"I said I was sorry…"

Emma guides Henry towards the car as Graham tears Joel a new one. As she climbs into the car, Emma lets out a sigh. She looks over at Henry who's disappointed that he couldn't stay longer.

"You did good kid," Emma smiles, deciding not to discipline him too much for disobeying her. She ruffles his hair playfully, something she always did to tease him and show some form of affection. Henry ducks out in typical teenage fashion.

"Thanks, Mom,"

Emma smiles once more before starting the car. They head towards home as the sun sets. Casting long shadows and giving the buildings in town an eerie glow. Emma suddenly shudders. She can't shake the feeling she has inside her stomach. A feeling of dread. It was something that she had noticed on the piece of paper, something she didn't want to point out right away. Something that scared her, made her nervous. The red pen had circled something that stood out to her... it had circled _Swan_.


	4. Chapter 4: Protection

"What's wrong love?" Killian asks.

The two of them sit at the kitchen table eating slices of pizza and sharing a bottle of wine. Henry is supposedly asleep, but Emma assumes that he's reading a book under the covers with a flashlight.

"It's just these break-ins," she sighs. "It's just thrown the entire town out of balance." She's not sure if she should share the evidence that the other's had found, especially the newspaper article with her name circled in it.

"What did you expect?" Killian asks gently.

"I was expecting a safe place; my job in Boston as bail bondswoman, was not always easy, or safe and the lifestyle I led before Henry was the same. I was hoping Storybrooke would be a safe place where Henry and I could live normal lives; a place where you didn't have to look over your shoulder all the time, you could let your kid hang out wherever he wanted and wouldn't have to lock your doors at night."

"It is a safe place," Killian says and leans in closely. "If you allow me to protect you."

Emma rolls her eyes but is slowly drawn in by his voice and his bright eyes. She quickly takes a small sip of wine to distract herself.

"A place cannot remain safe forever Emma," Killian says. "Eventually, the past comes back to haunt you. It is only when you find the right people to help you and a good solution that you can make it safe again."

Emma tries to smile at Killian's words, but she still has a knot in her stomach. This guy had some sort of ulterior motive, he was searching for something and would leave a path of destruction until he found it. The circling of her name usually indicated that his person knew her, someway, somehow, and was after her. Maybe he had a vendetta against her, or maybe their house was the next one he was going to rob… She subtly looks at the door and out the window above the sink to make sure they were locked. Killian follows her gaze.

"It'll be okay Swan," he whispers. "I'll protect you."

Killian leans forward and kisses Emma. She doesn't resist, enjoying the taste of his lips, mostly of tomato sauce, pepperoni and wine, and his scent of the salty sea air. She reaches her hand over and begins to undo his leather jacket. Killian runs his hands through her blonde hair and pulls her closer to him, practically off her chair and into his lap. Emma kisses his neck constantly, embracing this quiet moment with him and running her own hands down his back.

Eventually, she pulls back as Killian was unbuttoning her blouse.

"What's wrong?" Killian says, not doing well at hiding his disappointment.

"We can't do this… not right now…not while Henry's around,"

Killian can feel his heart ache in sadness and disappointment. He was so close to having Emma in his arms, where they could express their love for one another and here she was resisting again. Emma can feel his anger, and she sighs. She tries not to cry, she does want to be with him, but so many factors were getting in the way right now. She is afraid, she's never been good at this, but Killian loves her, cares for her. She wants to be near him, it's just that it's not the right moment…

"I'm sorry…" she whispers, buttoning up her blouse again. "I really am…"

"I understand…" Killian sighs and grabs his glass of wine to down the rest of it. He needs the alcohol to numb the pain of rejection. He has to remind himself that Emma is different, she's had her heart broken so many times she can't keep track. She needs more time to work out her emotions and time was something Killian did have. He'd wait to be with her again, he'd wait as long as she needed.

Emma looks down at her lap before looking at Killian's saddened face. She felt unbelievably guilty, tears filling her eyes, but she was still a mother and she didn't want to be like Gold, where Henry would have to leave so they could have time together. Her family came first always, and it felt like her feelings were always last.

"Are you okay to drive home?" Emma asks.

"I'll walk," Killian says. "It's a nice night out anyways."

Killian picks up his jacket from the floor and slides it on. Emma follows him to the front door of the house and opens it for him. The two face each other for a few moments in silence.

"I am sorry…" Emma whispers, trying to fight back tears.

"It's alright love," he says. "I knew when I pursued you that it would not be easy. You're a mystery Swan, one of the biggest in Storybrooke and yet, I feel like I know you... I felt like that the moment I met you…"

"I find you a mystery too…" Emma says. "You're more than just a smooth-talking scoundrel."

Killian smiles and kisses her.

"Aye, I've just stolen a kiss."

Emma giggles and they kiss once more before Killian begins to walk down the path and up towards Main Street.

"Stay safe," Emma calls after him.

"I always do," he answers.

Emma watches as her pirate disappears into the darkness. She looks around the small garden and across the street from where she's standing. The autumn wind rustles the fallen leaves and the branches of the oak tree, creating a chilly breeze. Emma shudders slightly, a dog in a nearby yard barks, the streetlight on the corner casts an eerie glow, creating sharp shadows all around her. A few bushes rustle, a lot more than the wind should, but there is nothing out there. Emma's heart pounds loudly and she has to rationalize that it was probably just an animal searching for food. This new article has her spooked more than she anticipated. She takes in a few deep breaths, swallows hard and then heads inside, double locking the door before heading to bed.


	5. Chapter 5: Discussion

"I still don't understand it," Regina says.

It is the following week and the group was meeting at _Granny's_ together. This time, David had joined his wife and son, taking a break from the taxi service. All of them are sharing food and milkshakes.

"There's so much that still doesn't make sense," Mary Margret says, feeding Neal from a bottle.

"At least now you guys have some evidence to go off of," David adds, popping some fries into his mouth. "It's weird how he suddenly 'dropped the gun' so to speak, leaving tire tracks and a piece of paper behind."

"He definitely wears gloves, though," Henry adds, taking a sip of his milkshake. "Graham said there are been no fingerprints in the house. It seems like he's a really smart guy and yet he leaves evidence around."

"Maybe he thought since it was a wooded area, no one would think to look there," Regina suggests.

"It is very hard to find evidence in the woods because of the elements and the animals," Henry says. "Evidence can be tainted very easily."

Emma rolls her eyes and picks at the burnt fries on her plate. Coming here for lunch was a mistake, but she didn't feel like cooking on a Saturday. These guys have been talking non-stop about the break-ins since they got there. Even the other people in the booth behind them were talking about it. It's beginning to get a little tiring because, like the police, they don't have a lot to talk about except what they know and suggest theories as to why. It feels like they're going in circles. And yet Emma can't shake the newspaper clue, clearly, this guy knows something about her and found her important for his crime spree.

"Well the tire tracks I took pictures of are definitely from a van, plus Crystal's description of the van she saw at the park allowed me to narrow it down to a Ford or a Chevrolet brand delivery van, they all have very distinct thick tire treads"

"I saw that you put that in the paper," David says, pulling the day's paper from his coat pocket. "That should get people on the look out and maybe we can get some traction on the case. The only problem is, I see a lot of vans like that when I'm driving around town, I'm pretty sure every business in town has one and I know every inch of Storybrooke."

"But clearly, so does he…" Regina points out.

Emma moans and blows some blonde hair from her face. Mary Margret puts her hand on her friend's shoulder while rocking her son to sleep.

"Maybe it's time we put this to rest for now," the teacher suggests softly. "I think Emma might be getting a headache from it."

"I don't see how, at least you have access to the police station for all the details," Regina sniffs, slightly jealous of Emma's position in law enforcement.

"I don't know any more than you do Regina, but can we please talk about **anything** else?"

"Okay, how about what's going on with you and Captain Guyliner?" Regina says with a smirk.

Emma bolts right up and shoots the reporter a death glare. Henry turns bright red and takes his eyes down to his food. He then puts his headphones in to drown out any further discussion.

"There's nothing going on between us!" Emma says firmly. She can see that her son is mortified.

"Oh please, I'm a reporter, I've seen you head down to the docks with him in the evening and coming back home early in the morning."

Emma goes bright red; she wants so badly to punch Regina in the face. She sinks lower and lower into her seat, about ready to burst, but someone beats her to it.

Crystal suddenly bursts into the restaurant. Her face is flushed and frantic.

"EMMA!" Crystal shrieks, practically knocking over Ruby to get to them. Henry immediately bolts up to attention, his headphones falling from his ears. Neal wakes up and starts to wail, in which his mother tries to comfort him. Ruby regains her balance and glares at Crystal. Granny sticks her head out of the window of the kitchen to stop the yelling until she sees how flushed and upset Crystal is, knowing it must be an emergency. The entire diner seems to quiet down by this sudden entrance.

"Crystal? What happened? What's wrong?" Emma says, standing up in concern.

"House... guy... ransacked..." she pants. She puts her hand on a table to steady herself.

"Slow down Crystal," David says, handing her some of his water. "Take a few deep breaths and then tell us what happened."

Crystal downs the rest of the water and then takes a few breaths. Now a bit calmer, she clears her throat. These few moments are agony for Emma, being kept in the dark about something important.

"What happened Crystal?" Emma asks, her heart beating rapidly.

"I came to your place to drop off those books I borrowed and I saw your house was trashed. I think that guy broke in!"


	6. Chapter 6: Invaded

Everything seems to move in slow motion after that. Emma immediately gets into her car with Henry and Crystal, going twenty miles over the legal limit to get to her house. She isn't sure what to think, maybe Crystal was mistaken. That is until she sees Graham's car parked in front of their house, with the lights flashing.

She rushes forward, straight towards her house, that is until Graham holds her back.

"Sorry Emma, this is a crime scene."

Emma doesn't care; she and her son were just the victims of this guy's crime and if her theory about him is right, he may have done a lot worse to their home. She pushes past Graham and goes right to the front door.

To her horror, Crystal is right. The books that Crystal was returning lay in a heap at the doorstep. She pushes the door open and indeed, the entire place had been ransacked. Her heart drops into her stomach. She cannot believe that this has happened. A home is a place where you're supposed to feel safe and now it was invaded by a total stranger. The furniture had been turned over completely and some of the cushions had been ripped up. All the contents of their kitchen drawers had been dumped all over the floor, she rushes upstairs and both her and Henry's rooms had been completely trashed, hers more than his. She can feel tears coming to her eyes, she begins looking around, trying to find if anything had been stolen. Her jewelry box had been turned over, but all the pieces were still there. The guy had gone through her dresser as well as her closet; clothes scattered everywhere, but nothing significant was missing. Her bed was practically overturned as well, sheets and blankets all over the floor. Even under her bed had been searched by this creep. The thing was, her laptop was laying at her desk, her Ipod next to her bed was out in the open.

"Mom!" Henry says, walking into her room his own heart pounding loudly. He goes over and grabs her arm. He leans in close. This indicates to Emma that the kid is frightened beyond belief. His eyes are wide and his breath is shallow. Emma knows she has to stay strong for her son, which is kind of hard to do when their entire house is destroyed.

"Is anything missing kid?" Emma asks after a long moment.

"N-no, I have my phone and my laptop is still in my backpack, it looks like he hit your room the hardest."

Emma just nods. She steps further into her room and her foot hits something. She looks down and finds the picture frame of her, Neal and Henry smashed. She leans down to pick it up when she notices some writing on it.

 _Payback!_ it reads in red marker. Emma swallows hard. She goes over and grabs her gun, preparing for the worst, in case the guy was still in the house. She doubted very much and she's finally thinking a little clearer than before, she would've gone for her gun first if the shock of being invaded hadn't scared her stiff.

"What do you think it means Mom?" Henry whispers weakly.

"Someone has a bone to pick with me…" Emma answers. "We have to get out of here."

…

The minutes' feel like hours as Graham and Joel search the house thoroughly, taping off the scene and interviewing Crystal, who was cleared quite quickly as a suspect being that she wasn't around for the first three break-ins and just happened to be near the park where the fourth one took place.

Emma leans against the hood of her bug, her gun on her hip, loaded and ready. Henry sits in the back, watching the scene and occasionally looking down at his phone. Emma just hoped Henry was as distracted as possible, this was as scary as ever. David had put a blanket around her shoulders and Mary Margret stayed near Emma the entire time. Her phone was buzzing constantly with texts asking if she was okay, several were from Neal, who was out of town for a few days. Many people in the neighborhood and the town had shown up and were overwhelming her with questions. Eventually, David told them all to back off and give her some space. Even Regina stopped asking questions and stayed quiet, observing the scene and respecting Emma. The knot in Emma's stomach became tighter and tighter as the afternoon began to fade into evening. She knows Graham and Joel were doing the best they could, but it didn't feel like enough.

"Swan!" a familiar voice calls out.

Emma turns to see Killian running up the street towards them. Emma rushes over and embraces Killian.

"Are you and Henry alright?" the pirate asks.

"We're okay, but the house is not," Emma says, very happy to have Killian in her arms.

"I'm sorry I didn't get here sooner, I was out on the boat and you obviously can't get reception out there. It wasn't until I pulled in that one of the docks men told me and I raced over."

"It's fine," Emma says quietly, fighting back tears.

Just then Graham and Joel come out of the house.

Emma looks at them with worry and a little bit of hope. Graham shakes his head.

"No fingerprints, no DNA, back window open and nothing was stolen."

Emma's heart sinks. Killian puts his arm around her in reassurance.

"The only thing 'e left behind was the picture frame with _Payback_ on it," Graham says, holding it up in a bag of evidence. "No fingerprints." Emma can see Regina writing furiously on a notepad.

"Do you know this guy Miss Swan?" Joel asks, looking at her. "Because he seems to know you and have a problem with you."

"No, gawd no," she says. "I don't know anyone in town who would do such a thing."

"Maybe it wasn't someone in town," Joel suggests. "Maybe it was someone from your past… an ex-boyfriend, an ex-co-worker?"

Emma shakes her head again. "I never made many connections, especially in Boston."

"Well clearly this man hates you, he's left a message which is a first for these cases…" Joel says, looking intently at her.

"I don't understand it myself," Graham says. " 'e must have something against you."

"But who?" Mary Margret asks.

"That's the million-dollar question," Joel says before walking towards his car. He gives Emma another long stare before he pulls out of the driveway and down towards the police station.

Graham wrinkles his nose. "I'm gonna take this evidence down to process it. I recommend that you find someplace else to stay tonight. Maybe with a friend or…"

Graham goes over and pats Emma on the shoulder before going to his car.

"I'm having Joel do surveillance around the area tonight, just to be safe."

"Where are you going?" Crystal asks suspiciously.

"Home," Graham says, getting into his car and turning the lights off. "I've got a lot of work to do," Most of the townspeople have dispersed, leaving the select group of friends at the scene.

"Work my foot, I saw him check his phone, a lot, he's going out with Lily tonight," Crystal says, shaking her head. "You'd think a cop would offer better protection."

"So where are you going to stay?" Regina asks. "I'd offer my place if my mom wasn't around."

"My house is definitely out," Crystal says. "My dad's home with Lacey."

Killian swallows. He feels guilty that his boat wasn't big enough for all of them. He could definitely provide protection, especially if it meant defending Emma.

"You guys can stay with us," Mary Margret says, handing Neal to David. "That is if Crystal doesn't mind sleeping on the couch."

Crystal shrugs.

"I guess that'll be okay," Emma says, still very upset. She felt very nervous and any sound she heard made her jump. She wasn't used to being so scared. The only thing that comforted her was Killian's arm around her shoulders. "We'll meet you guys there."

"Okay," the others say.

"I'm going to the office to get this in print," Regina says. "Night everybody."

"Night," Crystal says before heading to the taxi cab that David drove around. Mary Margret hugs Emma for a long time and then smiles at her before turning away.

Once they're alone, Emma hugs Killian again. So happy to have him there for her.

"Thank you for being here."

"I care about you and Henry Swan, what else can I do?"

"Come with us and stay at their place, I can't be alone right now and I seriously doubt Henry can't either."

"I wish I could Swan, but I have a…shipment that's coming really early tomorrow…" He looks down at his shoes, feeling very guilty. "I need to be there so I don't miss it… it's worth a lot…"

Emma's heart sinks a little lower in disappointment. She now felt exactly like Killian did when she refused him the other night.

"A-alright…" she sighs sadly.

"I'm really sorry sweetheart…" Killian sighs.

"It's okay," Emma says. "But at least give me a protection kiss." She says in good humor.

"I'll see you later love," Killian says. He kisses Emma deeply before heading towards the docks. "I'll call you when I get back on the ship."

"Okay," Emma says.

She watches him leave the same way he did the other night and she still can't help shake the feeling something worse was going to happen.


	7. Chapter 7: Leverage

"Hey, buddy!" a voice from the street calls out to Killian as he walks towards the docks after grabbing dinner at _Granny's_ and a few drinks at the local bar. "Can you give me a hand?"

Killian looks over at an individual in front of a large van, he has several large boxes in front of it. Killian stops and cautiously approaches the man. He can't make out the man's face as it is shadowed due to the nearby streetlight and he had his hood up. The guy is struggling to pick up the large boxes and put them in the back. Killian was suspicious of what a guy was doing, loading his van in the middle of the night, but he figured the faster he helped, the faster he could get back to his ship.

"Just grab one end," the guy says, pointing to end closest to the pirate.

Killian leans down and both of them lift the box into the van. They repeat the procedure until all the boxes are loaded and the owner of the van slams the door shut.

"Thanks so much," the guy says. He pulls his sliding side door open and pulls out a cooler. "Want a beer?"

"Thanks, mate," Killian says accepting the offer. The guy opens the two bottles with his keys and hands the brew to the pirate. The man leans against his van.

"Nice night huh?" he asks, clearly trying to make small talk.

"Aye," Killian says.

The two sit for a few moments in silence, sipping their beers, listening to the wind blowing through the nearby trees.

Killian's phone suddenly buzzes to break the awkward silence. With relief, he opens a text from Emma.

 _Staying the night at M's, call me when you get back…_

Killian gives an odd half smile as he's about to respond.

Suddenly a bottle smashes against his head, sending beer and shards of glass flying everywhere. Killian falls to the pavement, knocked out cold and bleeding.

"Sorry Mr. Jones," the guy says. "I've got a score to settle with Miss Swan…"

He picks up the phone from the pavement.

"And to do that, I need a little extra leverage."


	8. Chapter 8: Plan of Action

Henry sits on the couch watching one of his favourite mystery shows and eating popcorn in Mary Margret and David's loft apartment, as Emma continually stares at her phone. Crystal sits on the island in the kitchen, reading a magazine and drinking pop. David sitting across from her, going through some paperwork for his taxi business. Mary Margret comes into the kitchen, having just made up the guest room for their visitors. The teacher sighs when she sees Emma.

"Emma you're going to drive yourself crazy waiting for the phone to ring," she says.

"It's weird, though, he promised he'd call after he got back on deck."

"Maybe he got side-tracked," Mary Margret says, scooping up baby Neal from his playpen to feed him.

"Maybe he's so hammered he can't pick up the phone," Crystal suggests, taking a sip of pop.

Emma shoots Crystal an angry look.

"What? You know his two weaknesses are you and booze."

"I am not one of his weaknesses!" Emma says firmly.

"Why do you keep denying that you two are together?" Crystal asks.

"I agree," Mary Margret adds, feeding Neal from a bottle. "You clearly both like each other."

"Because…" Emma says, biting her lip. "It's complicated." She nods towards the living room.

"You know I can hear you right?" Henry calls in, not even looking up from the TV.

"Plenty of people who have kids are allowed to date Emma," Crystal says. "Look at my dad,"

"Well, I'm not some middle aged man who wants to recapture his youth by opening his bed up to every woman in town." Emma stops, realizing she's overstepped. "Sorry."

"It's fine, you pretty much summed up his relationship with women. It's why I hang out here most of the time anyways."

"Is he still with Lacey?" David asks.

"By 'with' you mean 'getting busy **_with_** ' then yes."

Mary Margret grimaces before taking Neal into the other room to put him to bed.

"I got to admit, that's a new record for him," Emma says.

"Yeah, I guess he likes Lacey more than the other women," Crystal says.

"It'd be nice if he actually found someone he liked and stopped this behavior," David says. "Maybe get married."

Crystal bursts out laughing, practically spraying pop everywhere, including on David's paperwork.

"My dad and marriage will never be in the same sentence ever David. It's like rubber and glue, if my dad gets married, the universe might implode."

"You never know," David says, trying to keep an open mind about these things.

"Face it, David, my dad will never give up his ways. He's been the way he is for too long to ever change, ever since Milah left him."

David shrugs, not really in the mood to argue any further. Emma is fiddling with her phone, waiting…wondering.

"Why don't you just call him?" Mary Margret says

Emma sighs and picks up the phone. She dials Killian's number.

It takes a few minutes, several rings before someone picks up.

"Hello, Killian?" Emma says.

"Hello Emma Swan…" a voice on the other end says. Emma's heart begins to beat quickly and she swallows hard. The voice on the other end is a lot deeper and an American voice. He's also a heavy breather, something that makes her really uncomfortable. "Killian can't come to the phone right now, but I can take a message."

"W-Who are you?" Emma asks.

"I warned you Swan…" the voice says.

"Where's Killian? Who the hell are you?"

"You don't remember me? Well, I suppose that is normal, it has been a few years."

"What did you do with Killian?"

"He's safe…for now… he and I had a little talk, but as much, he's serving my purpose. My leverage if you will."

"Leverage for what? What do you want?" Emma says angrily, tears filling her eyes. The entire room has gone quiet, Crystal has a page of the magazine in her hand, too concerned to turn it, Mary Margret goes over to David and leans into him in fear. Even Henry switches off the TV to hear better.

"There's something I'm looking for…something that is important to me, something that you have… I searched your entire house and couldn't seem to find it, but I know you have what I want…"

"What is it?" Emma swallows, trying her best not to show fear.

"A file, one that you kept as a bail bonds person, it's under the name Walsh Osmond. You should know it…" the voice says with malicious satisfaction in its tone. "It was one of your last cases…"

Emma does her best not to let out of shriek of fear. Walsh Osmond was a name she hadn't heard in a long time.

"What do you want me to do with it?"

"I'd like to offer an exchange… the file for Killian."

"And if I say no?"

"He dies…" the voice says firmly. "I know that you care for him, Miss Swan… this is obviously the perfect opportunity to do it, with the idiot Graham being distracted and Joel on patrol… but time is short for the pirate."

Emma's eyes go wide in terror; he knows a lot more than she anticipated. It's as if he knew their every move and had been watching them the entire time and now he has Killian…

"W-Where do you want to meet?"

"My house, it's on the very edge of Storybrooke, there's no need for publicity or the police… 64 Dark Street. Meet me in the next hour and we'll work something out... I'll see you soon…"

Then he hangs up.

Emma stands frozen in place and very slowly her phone is slipping from her fingers. She has tears in her eyes and her breath is caught in her throat. Her heartbeat pounds in her ears. Eventually, her phone slides from her hands and onto the floor. The others around her remain quiet, waiting for her to say something.

There's a large lump in Emma's throat. She trying to fight back tears. So many memories come rushing back over her like a wave on the seashore, trying to drown her in despair. Her stomach turns and then it feels like a big heavy stone is in the pit of it, pulling down into the sea of memories. She thought she left all this behind her when she and Henry moved, but now the past has come back to haunt them. She knows she has to protect her son, after what happened, she can't put him at risk. Her mind then goes to Killian, what could this guy be doing to him right now? How did he find Killian? What would happen if she didn't meet his demands? She had just started a relationship with the pirate and she might lose him. At least, she was admitting to herself that she cared for Killian and that they had a connection... a connection that could be severed within the hour.

Emma swallows hard and wipes the tears from her eyes with a shaky hand. She looks up at her concerned friends and attempts to put on a brave face.

"What's wrong Emma?" David asks, breaking the long silence.

"The guy who broke in… he's got, Killian."

"What does he want?" Crystal asks.

"A file. A file I had back in Boston, one of my last clients... W-Walsh Osmond…"

"Is he the…?" Henry begins but then trails off when his mother looks at him with sad eyes and she shakes her head. Henry feels a knot form in his stomach as many bad memories come rushing back. He'd hoped the last time he heard that name was three years ago.

"What?" Mary Margret says, hating being left out of the loop. "What? Who is he? Why does he want the file?"

"I don't know, to be honest, he didn't say why he wanted it, he just wants to exchange it for Killian..."

"Well, you need to phone the cops!" Crystal says as if it's the most obvious course of action.

Emma is still stunned into silence, knowing Killian's life hung in the balance, she slowly picks up her phone from the floor. Emma tries phoning Graham, but the phone continues to ring with no answer.

"Damn it!" she practically yells. "Graham must be out of town with Lily!"

"Try Joel," Mary Margret suggests quickly.

Emma does and gets voice mail. Emma can feel tears welling up in her eyes. She knows Killian's life is on the line here and she feels herself starting to have a panic attack when there are no police in town. She's trying to remain calm, but her heart is pounding in her ears and she's beginning to sweat with anxiety.

"You'll have to call the police in the next town," David says.

"And even then, it'll take them half an hour for them to get here and we don't have half an hour," Emma pants.

Emma looks over at her coat and belt with her gun in it, her mind begins to clear just enough that the beginnings of a plan emerge. She rushes over and pulls it on.

"Emma what are you doing?!" Mary Margret shrieks.

"I'm going to confront this joker," Emma says, clipping her belt on.

"Emma this is a job for the police!" David says sternly.

"The police aren't here David; Killian could die if someone doesn't do something! I only have an hour. Besides the guy says only I have what he wants."

"But you can't go there alone!" Mary Margret says sternly. She reaches over and grabs Emma's arm to prevent her from opening the door and leaving. Emma tries to fight her friend's grip, but she doesn't want to hurt her; Mary Margret is also freakishly strong for such a small person.

"Where are you supposed to meet him anyways?" David asks.

"64 Dark Street… I don't know where that is, though."

"I do…" David says slowly. "It's a stretch of road on the edge of the town. Hardly anyone lives there now, but I've seen it a few times…"

"David, you're not really suggesting that…" Mary Margret says in shock.

"I'll take you there Emma," David says.

"No, you won't!" Mary Margret snaps, releasing her grip on Emma and going to David. "This is a job for Graham or Joel, not you or…"

David looks at Mary Margret and then over at Emma. He sees the fear and desperation in his friend's face. He knows that if it was his son or his wife in danger, he'd be going there too.

"Mary, a man's life is at stake, if we don't do something he might die… We can't give up on Killian."

Mary Margret's eyes begin producing tears. She's scared beyond belief; she doesn't want her husband and friend wandering blindly into a dangerous situation, and yet Killian is also her friend and she can't let him down… she's afraid, but she has to be brave.

"Then let me go with you…" she finally says.

"No…" Emma says. Someone she loves is in serious danger, she doesn't need to put anyone else in harm's way.

"I'm going and that's final…" the teacher says firmly, using the same tone she always does when dealing with stubborn children.

David knows there's no way he can argue for his wife's safety; when someone was in trouble, may they be damned if anyone got in her way of helping them. Emma too knows there is no point in trying to argue, plus Mary Margret is the only person she trusts that can help her get the file the guy wants.

"Alright," David says. "As long as you stay behind us." He goes to grab his gun that is hanging in his closet.

"We'd better call Regina, she'll flip over this," Emma adds. "She also knows Storybrooke really well and may be able to direct the police to the house faster."

"Sounds like a plan…" David says, coming back into the room.

"We'll need to stop at our house first…" Emma says. "To get the file, it's a two-person job."

"Well, let's get going," Henry says, standing up, going for his own coat.

" **You** are not going anywhere," Emma says sternly, blocking Henry's view of the door.

Henry opens his mouth to protest.

"Henry it's too dangerous for me to even consider the notion. If your dad wasn't out of town, you'd be staying with him. This guy already has Killian; I don't need you in danger too."

"But…"

"Henry!" Emma says almost angrily; she grabs his face so that they are eye to eye. Henry can see tears in his mother's eyes as she says this. "I can't lose you, okay? You mean too much to me. I couldn't forgive myself if anything happened to you…" she's sobbing slightly. "Promise that you'll stay out of the way?"

Henry hates the way his mom is looking at him. It's like her version of puppy dog eyes, and Henry knows that he can't disobey her… not again. And yet he wants to help them. This is the kind of stuff he's read all about and is an expert in.

"You can stay here with Crystal," Mary Margret adds as David grabs his coat and hers. It's Crystal's turn to look shocked. "I need someone to look after the baby."

"Fine…" Crystal says. "But if you're not back in an hour or so, I'm coming after you."

"No, you won't!" David says in his own parenting voice. "We don't need your dad coming here to rip my head off because I put you in danger…"

"But…" Crystal stammers.

"Crystal!" Mary Margret practically barks. "Just stay here and keep the baby safe… okay?"

Crystal wants to yell out in protest. She feels like she's being treated like a baby, shoved to the sidelines during 'the big game.' She seriously doubted her dad would care if she put herself in a dangerous situation or not, plus she could hold a pistol better than anyone and she was also skilled in fighting techniques. She could take this joker out easily and give the others a hand, but she assumes, someone has to keep the fort standing.

"Fine," she says in defeat.

The others get ready to go, while Crystal places the call to 911 in the other town and then to Regina, who's ecstatic about the news…to a point. Emma goes over and hugs Henry tightly, trying to remain strong for her son, but Henry can feel the shudder in her stance.

"Stay safe," Henry says to her.

"I will, as long as I know you're okay…" Emma responds. She kisses him on the top of the head before heading to the door. "We'll take my car," she says to David.

The three say good-bye, both parents kissing their infant son before heading to the car. They bring flashlights and their phones in case anything happens. Crystal double locks the door and watches the group through the window as they go to Emma's bug. She gives a small wave of reassurance before the yellow bug vanishes into the darkness.

Crystal turns to Henry as soon as they're gone.

"We have to help your mom," Crystal says. "I don't care what anyone says, they need our help."

"But my mom said…"

"Henry!" Crystal says firmly. "They're going up against a guy who's avoided capture from the police. I don't know why, but I have this feeling that they're walking into a trap of some kind. This guy knows more about Emma than he lets on… Besides, I can't just sit here and do nothing. Anyways, your mom said to stay out of the way…not in the house…"

Henry swallows hard. He really didn't want to disobey his mother again and he was nervous. Crystal didn't have the same disciplined nature from his guardians that he had. His mom would kill him if he went against her rules and yet… This was a real-life mystery, something he'd always dreamed and read about. His heart pounds loudly in excitement and fear. Crystal begins to pull her hair up as she thinks about their next step. She calls Ruby to come over and watch the baby. Once she arrives, the two teens prepare to leave.

"I want to learn more about this guy, maybe we can have the police set up a perimeter to prevent him from escaping?"

"Like a police road block?"

"Exactly, we'll go to my place for more stuff first and then yours for more information. And then we'll go to the house."

Crystal is giving Ruby her phone number and a list of instructions for Neal when Henry thinks of something.

"But how can we help them?" Henry says. "My mom took her car. We've got no transportation. This place that they went to is on the other side of town."

Crystal pauses for a moment and then smiles.

"My dad has a van…" she says.


	9. Chapter 9: Hiding from the Past

"Stop here David…" Emma says as they pull up in front of their house, still covered in police tape and everything was dark. Never had Emma thought her house looked so empty and even a little scary. Her house no longer felt like a home. The swing Neal had installed in the oak tree swung slowly in the breeze, like a pendulum. Emma's heart races, it was if the swing was counting down the seconds that Killian had left to live.

"What file does he want?" Regina asks from the back seat. Ever since they picked her up, Regina had been talking non-stop, but this time, only to be caught up with the situation. She did not bring her notepad out of respect for Emma and Killian's situation.

"Something I stored a long time ago," Emma says, opening the door of her car.

"But the house was completely ransacked," Mary Margret says, climbing out of the back seat. "How was he not able to find it?"

"Because…I hid it in a certain place that requires two people to get to it," Emma explains.

The two duck under the police tape and walk towards the empty house in a brisk fashion as time was of the essence. Emma pushes the still ajar front door open and steps into the mess.

Mary Margret gasps at the scene around, having only heard what had happened to her friend's house.

"He did not hold back did he?" she says quietly.

"No," Emma says before climbing the stairs, Mary Margret following behind her.

Emma makes her way down the hall to her bedroom. She flicks the light on and kicks the debris from the man's raid away from her bed.

"Give me a hand," Emma says. She puts her hands on the edge of her bed. Mary Margret joins her and they push the bed across the floor to the window.

Mary Margret watches as Emma knocks on the wooden floorboards that were under her bed. One sounds different from the others. Emma pries open the loose end of the floorboard to reveal a small space underneath, in the floor. It was bigger than it seemed as Mary Margret can see an assortment of objects beneath it. Papers, photos and other small objects. It was like a child's hiding place to store treasures, only Emma was using it to store memories… or rather hide them.

"What is all this stuff?" Mary Margret whispers.

"Stuff that I want to forget," Emma answers as she begins pulling up a narrow box filled with files. "Anything that reminds me of Boston or my foster homes or anything else that made my life depressing."

Emma begins going through the box she pulled out. Mary Margret peers through the compartment. She sees a few small things, like a necklace with a swan on it, a small knitted blanket with her name sewn on, some small toys, photo albums, even a camcorder. Clearly, there was a lot that Emma wanted to forget, she buried her past as much as possible, something that worried Mary Margret about, it was never healthy to do things like that, she knew from experience.

The box that Emma was going through was labeled _Work_. It was a series of files, stuffed to the brim with paperwork. Emma knew that when she came to Storybrooke, she would hide these documents, mostly because there was a lot of information, too much evidence to simply throw away after they moved here. She'd never thought she'd have to go back into them again until this guy threatened Killian's life for one of them.

She finally finds _Osmond_ , followed by _Walsh_. She shudders slightly thinking about Walsh… a man who nearly destroyed her life. But what did this guy want with it? Walsh was in prison, that was for sure and had been for many years, so why was this file so important to this guy? Enough to kidnap Killian for it. She grasps the folder tightly in her hands before standing up.

"Let's go," Emma says, unaware that a crucial piece of evidence had fallen out of the folder and onto the floor.

Mary Margret was opening her mouth to speak; her mind reeling with questions about the whole situation, but seeing the look in Emma's eyes and the desperation on her face, she knew explanations could wait.

Emma hurries back down the stairs, not even bothering to put things back since their house was already a huge mess, Mary Margret in her wake.

They make it back to the car.

"Got it," Emma says. "Let's go to Dark Street."

David nods and start's Emma's car up. They pull away from the house and go down Main Street.

"I've only been down here a couple of times," David explains. "Not many people live out this far."

"If you get lost, I can help," Regina adds. "I used to bike out here when I was little."

"Wouldn't your mom be worried?" Mary Margret asks.

"She was always too busy to care," Regina shrugs. "I mostly came out here for a good scare because there were rumors at the time that it was haunted."

"Are you serious?" David says, making a left turn.

"I was nine, let it go, anyways the houses out here are very far apart and very run down, so it looked pretty spooky. That's probably how the rumors started. Besides that, they made great hiding places and fun locations to dare each other to go into."

"Did you dare your friends a lot to go into the houses?" Mary Margret asks.

Regina goes quiet and even in the darkness, the teacher can see that she's turned red. "I didn't have a lot of friends when I was young. I mostly just came out here to get out of the house."

Emma doesn't say anything. She wasn't totally surprised, but she obviously didn't say so. Regina took some getting used to, she could be annoying, spoiled and sometimes just mean, but they were friends now and that's what was important.

David makes another turn. "We're on Dark Street," he announces.

The street definitely lived up to its name. David had to turn on the high beams as there were no street lights and the road had many bumps in it. True to what Regina had said, the houses were old and run down, most of them were boarded or being overcome by vegetation. Emma swallows hard, worrying about Killian and their situation in general. She doesn't know what this guy is capable of, or what he might do. She just hopes they can save Killian and get out before this guy does any more damage.

"I think this is it…" David says, pulling the bug to a stop. The group can see a rusty mailbox, overtaken by a bunch of vines, but still, there is a distinct outline of the number 64. There was a long, crumbling brick driveway that led to a very large house, which in a moonlight, looked like a large, menacing shadow. The house looked like it was from a Victorian era, with a large pointed roof and large windows that had been shattered. Despite its run-down appearance, the house looked like it had been lived in recently; the gravel and bricks on the driveway had been disturbed and some of the overgrown weeds had been flattened by something rather large.

The entire group held their breath as they stared at the large house as if it were watching them.

"Of course…" Emma mutters under her breath. "It had to be a big, creepy house in the middle of nowhere."


	10. Chapter 10: Twist

"This is the van your dad owns?!" Henry says in shock.

It's an old van, big, the kind of van that parents tell their kids to stay away from on the street. It's big and bulky with at least three rows of seats. It looks like something from the sixties or an old TV show.

"My dad got it on some trade show road trip, it's not much but it'll get us there," Crystal says, not really in the mood to argue. She opens the garage door where the van is kept, pulling her hair up. She's dressed in dark clothing and carries her backpack. She also puts a gun on her hip.

"Where'd you get those?" Henry asks nervously.

"My dad has a gun cabinet, your mom and David went in armed, so will we," Crystal explains. "Can you shoot?"

"N-no not really… I've never fired a gun" Henry says quickly, looking at his feet.

"Henry…" Crystal says sternly.

"Okay, my dad sometimes takes me to a shooting range!" he says, looking guilty. "And sometimes we go hunting, just don't tell my mom."

Crystal hands Henry a gun and he puts it in his belt.

"The safety's on, so we'll be okay," she says confidently. Of course, she doesn't feel confident, not at all. This is extremely dangerous what they're doing, but they knew that they couldn't just wait for the police to show up, by then Killian and the others could be dead.

Crystal holds up the keys to the van. She climbs into the driver's seat and starts it up. The thing sputters to life after a few hard turns of the key. The age of the thing makes her even more nervous, she doesn't want to wake her dad up, whom she found in the living room, clutching a bottle of booze like a teddy bear. She was quiet enough to slip into the gun cabinet, swipe what she needed, including her laptop and backpack without waking him. The cab of the van smells of old food and cigarettes, the seats are really worn that there are holes in places and some of the seatbelts are broken.

Henry hops into the cab with her and puts on his working seatbelt.

Crystal pulls down the driveway as quietly as she can and then pulls out onto the road. She turns onto Main Street, the old van creaking and sputtering every so often.

They head towards Emma and Henry's house, sitting in nervous silence.

"What's going on here?!" a voice from the back seat shouts.

"Oh, my Gawd!" Crystal shrieks. Lacey's tired face and messy brown hair pop up from the back seat. Crystal stops the van so suddenly that they all go forward, Lacey whacking her head on the front seat.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Crystal shrieks, turning towards the back.

"Me? What are you doing swiping your dad's car?!" Lacey snaps back. She looks like hell, dark circles under her eyes, her makeup smeared and her clothes rumpled beyond belief.

"My mom needs our help," Henry explains, not exactly happy because of the delay. "Some guy is negotiating for Killian's life and she and a few others are going to confront him, learn his motives."

"Has she asked you to help?" Lacey asks.

"No,"

"Then why the hell are you putting yourselves in jeopardy?" Lacey squeaks.

"Because there's more to this than we know," Crystal says. "This guy is smart and I think he may be behind the break-ins in town. They're going to need our help."

"Why waste your time?" Lacey protests, but Crystal puts the van back into gear and drives down the street.

"Well, we're stuck with you, how the hell did you end up in the back anyways? I'd thought you'd be with my dad," Crystal asks, her voice clearly annoyed by the unwanted hitchhiker. Her patience has run very dry with the drunken females in her father's life. She's had to deal with many intoxicated women before, kicking them out of the house in the morning and cleaning up their messes, but if her father insistence of keeping Lacey around, who was quite loud and very annoying when drunk.

"Your dad was trying a new recipe of whiskey, we each had a glass, then he had to go to his shop for some reason and the next thing I remember is waking up in this loud rust bucket."

"I'm just surprised he's invited you over more than once," Crystal mutters under her breath.

"Hey! Your father respects me and he cares about me, he told me I'm one of a kind"

"He said the exact same thing to my mom and look where that got us," Crystal mutters.

"He may not be much, but he's an improvement from the other dirtbags I've dated. I needed a change and your dad is part of that, it's why I came here in the first place..."

"You'd think a librarian would be smart enough to avoid my dad," Crystal says.

"Hey, no one is perfect!" Lacey protests.

They pull up in front of the house, which is still dark and covered in crime scene tape, cutting the fighting short.

"What happened here?" Lacey asks.

"Have you been living under a rock the past few weeks?" Crystal snap.

"I'm intoxicated, cut me a break!" Lacey snaps back.

"My house was broken into, the same guy who's been hitting houses all over town," Henry says, not wanting the fighting to continue.

"So why are we here if he's already left?" Lacey mutters.

"The guy was searching for something and when he couldn't find it, he decided to kidnap Killian to get it from my Mom."

"That seems rather extreme," Lacey says, the mention of kidnapping sobering her up a bit.

Crystal frowns and pulls her hair up into a ponytail to help herself think. "I feel like there's more than that… That newspaper article you found, had Emma's name circled. This guy knows her and wants something else from her… I just can't put my finger on it."

"Well, while you do that, I'm going to see if there's anything my mom missed."

"But where?" Crystal asks. "The guy clearly didn't find it, what makes you think you can find it?"

" I know where they are…" Henry says.

…

Henry runs up to his mom's bedroom and was surprised to see the hiding spot had already been opened.

"What is that?" Lacey asks.

"My mom's hiding place," Henry explains. "She keeps all the stuff she wants to forget under the floorboards, mostly to save herself the pain, but also for security reasons. She was a bail-bonds person in Boston and gathered a lot of important information about her clients."

"So how do you know where it is?" Crystal asks quizzically.

"I found it one day when I was playing hide-and-seek with my dad. I hid under here and noticed the uneven board. I opened it to find a treasure trove of stuff from her past."

Henry reached down and shows them a photo album, half full of pictures of his mom and Neal. The two girls can also see a vast amount of keepsakes. A hand-knitted blanket with her name stitched onto one side. A pink teddy bear, stacks of adoption papers and a necklace with a swan pendant on it. Crystal snaps out of it, realizing that it was wrong to go through people's private things, plus, they're under the gun for time.

Lacey steps forward and something crunches under her foot.

"What is that?" Henry says, he takes the paper from under the woman's shoe.

He holds it up, but it's too dark to see, so Crystal whips out her phone and shines the light on the paper.

"Walsh Osmond..." Lacey reads aloud.

"That's the file he wants," Henry says. "This must've fallen out."

"He looks really familiar, I mean look at those eyes... and what's a name like Walsh Osmond?" Lacey states, mostly to herself.

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Crystal ponders. Her mind suddenly makes a link.

"Because of my mom..." Henry begins.

"Lacey, can you get my laptop out of my bag?" Crystal interrupts, not listening to him.

Lacey unzips her bag and Crystal logs into her computer. She types Walsh Osmond into the search engine. A news article and recent photo pops up.

The first headline makes all of them gasp simultaneously.

"Oh, my gawd!" Crystal says, staring at the picture on the paper and the new article she pulled up on her computer.

"Is that…?" Lacey gasps, squinting to make sure she's seeing this right and it's not the whiskey.

Henry too is wide-eyed in shock.

"We have to get there now!" he says.


	11. Chapter 11: Shut In

Emma walks up cautiously to the porch of the old house, her gun raised, waiting for something to jump out at her. David follows behind her, his gun also out. Regina and Mary Margret bring up the rear with flashlights.

"I have a really bad feeling about this…" Mary Margret says quietly.

Emma pushes the door carefully, it makes a low, terrifying squeak, unsettling the entire group.

"He must be expecting us…" Regina whispers.

Emma's gun goes in first. She surveys the room carefully from the doorway before entering the front hall. Mary Margret holds her flashlight up to help improve their view.

The place is a mess; there are stacks of newspapers in almost every corner of the room, every surface is covered with dust, stained white sheets cover the furniture and the chandelier above them is covered in cobwebs. Emma's heart is pounding loudly in her chest as Mary Margret's light searches for any trace of the guy they're looking for. The file is tucked away in her coat, feeling like an anchor, weighing her down. Her mind keeps going to Killian and where he might be held in this large house.

"I think we should split up," David says in a hushed voice. "We can find Killian faster that way."

"I still don't think we should be doing this…" Mary Margret says, swallowing hard. But no one responds to her statement.

Emma approaches a wooden staircase with dark banisters that curl up and around the second story, almost like a snake's coil. She can't see the upstairs very well, but she still had that feeling that someone is watching them from the shadows.

"Mary Margret and I will check upstairs and the attic, if there is one, you two can check down here and the basement, if it has one," David suggests. "And we'll whistle if we find anything…okay, Emma? Emma?"

"Sure," Emma says, snapping back to attention. "Come on Regina…"

"Good luck," Mary Margret whispers before following David up the creaky wooden stairs

…

"There's nothing down here…" Mary Margret says, checking the first room at the top of the staircase. The room she searched must've been a bedroom at one point, with a fireplace along one wall and a two door closet along the other. The room was completely bare and Mary Margret had even checked the closet, to find nothing but a few rusty coat hangers.

"Nothing here either," David agrees, looking in what once was a bathroom with moldy tile floors and a rusted sink and cracked bathtub on legs.

The couple makes their way further down the hall, checking each room carefully in search of their kidnapped friend.

The finally reach the end of the hall, with a single door that was shut, unusual since all the other doors were ajar.

Carefully, David turns the knob and has his gun go in first. Mary Margret shines her flashlight inside to see a much larger room than any previous ones they searched.

"This must've been the master bedroom…" David says quietly, looking at the size of the place.

"Yeah, and it also looks lived in," Mary Margret adds.

The teacher was right. There was hardly a speck of dust on anything. The sheets on the bed looked relatively new and made up. There was a glass of water by the bedside table and a digital electric clock showing it was one in the morning. There was an air conditioner in the window and ashes on the floor near the fireplace and when David looks into the bathroom, there was a towel hanging up and the smell of soap lingered in the air.

"This guy must be living here…" David says.

"That does make sense if you were breaking and entering or running from the law, an abandoned house on a lonely street would be a good place to hide," Mary Margret deduced.

"Yeah, but who lives here?"

Mary Margret goes up to the closet and opens it carefully.

What's inside scares her...

Instead of clothes hanging up, are some things that are much worse. Posted all over the inside of the closet are pictures and not just any pictures, but pictures of Emma. Some of when she must've lived in Boston and some more recently, including her getting ice cream with Henry. And all the pictures were taken without her knowledge. Clearly, this guy has been spying on her, tracking her movements, stalking her. he has some sort of obsession with her, but who?

There's a table placed in the center closet with a map covering it like a table cloth and as she gets closer, Mary Margret realizes it's a map of Storybrooke. There are small red circles on the map and the teacher quickly realizes that these circles are the homes that were ransacked. There are also pictures of the table of her, David, Killian, Crystal, Regina, Henry, even adult Neal. Mary Margret swallows hard again and her heart begins to race. She sees that the picture of Killian has a red X through it.

"David…" Mary Margret gasps nervously.

She suddenly hears loud creaking from outside in the hallway. She tries to find David, who has his gun raised at the door, prepared for an attack. The creaks sound like footsteps and they are approaching quickly. The couple holds their breath in fear and anticipation.

…

Emma opens the door that she finds leads to the kitchen. Regina shines her light into the room. To both their surprise, the kitchen is well-kept. The refrigerator is humming loudly in one corner, a small TV hangs beside a clean stove. There are dirty dishes in the sink and even a table cloth covering the table in the corner of the room.

Regina walks in without a second thought, not exactly pleased to be paired with Emma. She opens the refrigerator to a bright light and fresh food.

"This is getting weirder and weirder by the minute," Regina says. "This guy has been living here…"

There is suddenly loud creaking from above, moving along the upstairs hall, that makes the two jump slightly.

"It's just Mary Margret and David," Emma says with a small sigh of the relief. The creepy house and Killian's abduction has really got her on edge.

But Regina doesn't respond. She listens very carefully to the creaks. They sound like footsteps once she hears the rhythm in them, but there's something more there… she doesn't count two pairs of footsteps…she counts three!

Emma doesn't notice Regina's pause as she comes to a door just outside the kitchen, which she assumes leads to the basement. She opens it carefully, seeing the stairway leading into pitch blackness.

"Hey, Regina I found the base…"

Her words are cut off when the door slams shut behind her, putting her in complete darkness.

Emma tries the door knob angrily, finding the door to be locked.

"Regina! Regina!" Emma hollers, pounding loudly. "Regina open…"

Emma suddenly hears frantic footsteps leave the kitchen.

"Damn it, Regina!" Emma shouts, pounding loudly.

…

David cocks his gun into place, waiting as the creaking gets closer.

"Get ready…" David whispers. "Use the flashlight to blind him for a second and then I'll order him onto the ground. Then we'll force him to release Killian."

Mary Margret nods in response until the creaking is right at the door.

The door opens…

"Damn it! Why are you blinding me?!" Regina's voice can be heard.

"Regina?" David says, lowering his gun. Mary Margret lowers her flashlight just enough to see the reporter standing there, her own flashlight having fallen to the floor from the sudden impairment.

"Regina what are you doing? Where's Emma?" David asks.

"Are you guys alright?" she asks.

"What do you mean?" Mary Margret asks.

"What I mean is, I heard another pair of footsteps up…"

The door suddenly slams loudly behind them and latches.

"What the…"

Regina begins trying the door knob, but…

"We're locked in!" she shrieks.


	12. Chapter 12: Running Out of Time

Emma bangs on the door, frantically, shouting her friend's name, wanting to know why Regina left in such a hurry. Maybe David and Mary Margret were in trouble. With no other alternative,

She takes aim with her gun and blasts the lock off the door.

…

The single sound echoes through the quiet house, sending David into a panic.

"Oh God!" he says. "Emma's in trouble, Stand clear Regina."

He takes aim with his gun, planning a similar strategy of blasting the lock off. Regina dives to the side and covers her ears as David fires. The only problem with David's plan was that it had been awhile since he'd fired a gun and his aim wasn't great. He fired all the rounds in his gun in the same general direction. Only two of six shots that were heard were metal on metal.

Once the smoke cleared, Regina got back up to see if his plan had worked.

She saw four bullet holes in the wood of the door and no doorknob. David had blown the doorknob completely away.

She tries the door.

"Great, it locked from the outside, no doorknob, no ammo, now we really are trapped!" Regina shrieks angrily. "Nice going sharp shooter."

"Emma will save us," Mary Margret says quickly before her husband can respond. "We just need to call for her."

The two women begin banging on the destroyed door loudly, calling their friend's name.

…

Emma hears screaming from above as she exits the basement stairs. Without another thought, she races towards the sounds, her gun raised. She reaches the top of the stairs and tears down the hall, getting closer. She sees a mess of wood and bullet holes at her feet. She also finds a flashlight, still lit on the floor. She picks it up when she hears Mary Margret and Regina's screams. Emma knocks on the door loudly in response.

"Emma is that you?" Mary Margret's voice asks.

"It's me, are you guys alright?" she calls inside.

"We're fine, what happened?" David's voice calls.

"I found the basement when the door locked behind me and I heard Regina run away. What the hell…?"

"I heard extra footsteps up here," Regina barks defensively. "I came to see if they were alright and someone shut us in. So David shot at the lock and blew doorknob off…"

"And now we're trapped," Mary Margret finishes.

"We need you to unlock the…"

Emma suddenly sees a shadow run past her from an adjacent room. Her heart stops in a panic, causing her to drop the flashlight again. She raises her pistol. The shadow stops at the top of the stairs and chuckles.

"Time's almost up Swan…" it says. "You have to choose, your friends or your…"

The shadow then tosses something, in which Emma ducks away from it. She hears a piece of metal hit the wall behind her and fall to the floor at her feet. She hears the guy race down the stairs, laughing loudly. Emma leans down, squinting in the dark to see what it is. It was a ring…one of Killian's rings.

Emma's eyes fill with tears. Her hand closes around it in anger.

"Emma what's wrong?" Mary Margret says.

"I have to give the guy his folder…" she says into the door.

"But…"

"I'm sorry, but if I don't do it now, Killian is going to die."

"But Emma we can help you…" Regina yells, frustrated.

"There's no time…I'm sorry, guys I'll be back as soon as I can…"

"Wait Emma!" Mary Margret shouts, but they hear Miss Swan's footprints get fainter and fainter.

"Emma!" Regina hollers.

"EMMA!" Mary Margret screams.

Emma's heart pounds loudly as she blocks her friend's screams, she had to save Killian, there wasn't much time left…


	13. Chapter 13: New Trap

"They're already inside," Crystal says as they pull up to the house, noticing the yellow bug parked on the end of the driveway.

"We have to get inside now…" Henry pants, loading his gun expertly.

"Hold on a minute!" Crystal says. "If this is a trap, we can't just walk blindly into it."

"You're right," Henry says. "Sorry, I'm just a little scared and excited."

"That's fine, but we need to think rationally and carefully and try not to get anybody killed," Crystal says.

"It's an 1890 Victorian house," Lacey says leaning into the front to get a good look at the structure from the back seat. "I've read about them before. There's usually a back entrance or porch in these kinds of places and if my geography is correct, this street will lead directly out of Storybrooke and onto the main highway."

Crystal is impressed, Lacey seems to have sobered up to the situation, enough to give her some good intel.

"That gives me an idea…" Crystal says. "If this guy wants to make a getaway, he'll want to use the back… if only we could set a trap for him…" Her voice trails off as her mind gets into gear. "Hey Lacey, what's in the back of this van?"

"Uh…just some old bungee cords and ropes why?"

"This stuff might work for a good trap," she says, pulling her hair up out of her face. "Henry I want you to grab that stuff and follow me to the back of the house."

"What should I do?" Lacey asks.

"Keep an eye out for the cops and stay out of sight. We'll keep in touch with these walkie talkies…" she hands one to Lacey from her bag.

"On it!" Lacey says.

"And if anything, changes, just call us."

"Okay," the librarian nods.

Henry and Crystal gather the supplies from the trunk into Crystal's bag, hop out of the van and race around the side of the house. It is pitch dark, but the moon provides some light, enough for them to make it to the back. They didn't want to use their flashlights to draw attention to themselves. The two give their eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dark. The house creaks and groans behind them, getting their hearts racing. They have to remind themselves that their friends are in trouble and it's not the time to get scared.

As they reach the back, where the porch is, Crystal spies something very big and very dark.

"What is that?" Crystal asks, with a bit of panic in her voice. Bears shouldn't be that common in Maine. The two see a large, box-shaped shadow parked in between two trees.

Henry switches on his flashlight, his light lands on a large, gray van.

"That's the same van I saw before!" Crystal says. "I knew it was connected to the case!"

The two creep up closer to the parked vehicle and peer inside the cab of the van. Inside on the passenger seat is a gray hoodie, a pair of gloves, duct tape, and a crowbar.

"Shotgun!" Crystal smiles.

"So what's this 'trap' you have in mind?" Henry asks.

"It's pretty basic, and with the van in the mix, I can enhance it to make sure he doesn't get away."

She goes around to the front of the vehicle and pulls up the hood.

"Bring your light over here," Crystal whispers.

Henry does so.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

"Removing the spark plugs, without them, the van can't start."

Crystal grabs the parts she needs and then chucks them into some nearby bushes.

"Okay that takes care of his get away, but how are we going to catch him physically?" Henry asks.

Crystal sneaks towards the back of the house, Henry in her wake. The back porch has a small roofed in area, over a wooden deck, which at one point must have been really nice to sit under on sunny days. However, now it's crumbling and the wood is rotted completely away, making unwanted creaks as the two make their way up to the back door. The surrounding porch is covered with old planters, flower pots and a few old wicker chairs. Once by the doorway, Crystal hooks one end of the bungee cord to one side of the door frame and then spreads it across to the other.

"I see," Henry whispers. "A trip wire."

"Exactly, a little old fashioned, but still works pretty well, especially if he's not looking where he's going."

"So what are the ropes for?"

"Hand me that flower pot will you…" Crystal says.

Henry reaches over and hands it to her. Crystal slides the thin rope into the hole at the bottom of the heavy clay pot and ties a knot so it almost looks like an upside down bell.

"Thanks, I'm going to rig this so the second he trips on the bungee cord, the rope will untie itself and this pot will fall onto him, knocking him out cold."

"How are you…"

"Just watch," Crystal says and gets right to work, throwing the rope over a hook in the ceiling of the porch, most likely used for hanging planters. She grabs some nearby rocks and puts them into the pot to give it extra weight. She then pulls the pot into place. She then ties it loosely to the bungee cord that hangs across the door frame.

"If my physics works out okay, we should get this guy…"

Suddenly, there are frantic footsteps heard from inside. The two freeze in place, their hearts beating loudly, maybe their trap is about to be sprung. They hear hollering and then a single shot rings out. Both kids jump in shock and dive to the ground for cover, thinking they've been discovered. Then there's silence.

They wait a few seconds, which feels like minutes, the only sound is their own panicked breathing and their racing hearts. But there's no dark figure coming towards them, no gun, no... They slowly get back up before another round of shots is heard, sending them to the ground again.

Henry counts six in a row and then silence. There are more footsteps racing deeper into the house followed by screaming and loud pounding.

"That sounds like Regina and Mary Margret," Henry says, catching his breath from the sudden shock.

"They sound like they're in trouble!" Crystal pants, getting up to grab her gun.

The walkie-talkie suddenly buzzes to life.

"Are you guys okay? I heard shots" Lacey's voice comes from the other end.

Crystal takes it off her belt. "We're fine, the trap is set, we're gonna to come around and enter the front."

"Be careful," Lacey says.

"We will. Come on Henry, they need our help," Crystal says.

Both teens break out their guns and run around to the front of the house. With their weapons raised, they slowly enter through the front door. They hear pounding at the top of the stairs and more yelling.

"Come on…" Crystal whispers.

The two go up the old stairs as quietly as possible and down the hall to where the noises are coming from.

"Emma!" a voice cries out. "Emma wait, let us come with you…!"

The two reach the end of the hall. They see four bullet holes in the door and some wood shaving on the floor. Henry looks to see that the door has been dead bolted from the outside. He quickly deduces that either his mom or David tried to shoot the lock off, but was unsuccessful.

Henry unlatches the door and pushes it open, both of them with their guns at the ready.

Inside stands, Mary Margret, Regina, and David, all of them are shocked at the two kids standing there with weapons of their own.

"What the hell?" David gasps. "I thought we told you two to stay at home!"

"We knew you guys would need some help, we did some research of our own and found something important out. So we came and it looks like we came just in time."

"How did you get here?" Regina asks. "We took Emma's car."

"We borrowed my dad's van to get here…" Crystal explains, happy to see that her friends were alright.

Mary Margret, who was speechless at first goes a shade of red, angrily assuming that the two had brought baby Neal.

"Where's my baby?" Mary Margret demands.

"He's safe at home with Ruby M, chill. We came with Lacey," Crystal says.

"Lacey?" Regina asks in confusion.

"Long story, don't ask," Crystal shakes her head.

"Where's my mom?" Henry asks, realizing she wasn't in the room.

"She went after the break-in guy; we heard him say that time was running out for Killian, she left us behind and we don't know where they went."

"We can probably call him by his real name..." Henry begins.

Crystal suddenly puts two and two together. She radios into Lacey.

"Hey Lacey, do these old houses have basements?"

"Sure, they were like cellars to store foods for long periods of time why?"

"Because I'll bet that's where he's keeping…"


	14. Chapter 14: Rescue?

_Killian_!

That's all that Emma could think about as she raced down the stairs after the figure who threatened his life. She could feel tears about to break the surface of her eyes, her hand still clamped tightly around the ring. She knew now that if Killian died, she might just die along with him. She knew that she couldn't imagine life without him and this guy would pay for what he's done. With her gun drawn she follows the fading footsteps, ones that were leading directly to the basement.

Very carefully, Emma takes a few slow steps down the wooden steps, they creak under her weight. She pauses to listen.

She hears a muffled sound and what sounds like struggling. She makes it to the bottom of the stairs in pitch blackness. She gives her eyes a moment to adjust and then she remembers she has a flashlight. She switches it on. At the very end of the room, she sees a figure. She raises her gun until the beam of light lands on dark hair and bright blue eyes squinting from the sudden brightness. She rushes over as fast as she can, so fast that she drops her flashlight and gun to the ground. She hugs him tightly.

It's Killian. He's bound by his hands and feet to a chair and a large strip of duct tape is across his mouth. He's also bleeding from where he was struck on the side of the head with the bottle. He's struggling against his restraints and his voice muffled like he's trying to tell her something.

Emma removes the tape as fast as possible.

"Swan," Killian says, very relieved that she's unharmed. Despite his own situation, Killian was always more concerned about the ones he loves.

The feeling was mutual.

Killian woke up bound and gagged in the chair and in complete darkness. He didn't know where he was or who had brought him here and he was worried about Emma. Eventually, the man had spoken to him, but since they were in complete darkness, Killian couldn't see who it was. He was told that he was the bait to get Emma out here and saw that his captor had gotten a hold of his phone. He was there when Emma called him and the stranger threatened his life. Then he simply told Killian to sit tight, leaving the pirate in a dark, cold prison. He tried to free himself multiple times, until his body became exhausted and couldn't. He was wondering if someone would find him. When he heard the footsteps above him, he tried to make as much noise as possible to attract attention, but the tape made it hard to make any sound. When he heard Emma's voice and the basement door slam, he never felt so happy in his life, he knew she was searching for him. He tried to make noise, but then a shot rang out and scared him half to death. He was afraid that Emma had been shot by the abductor and he lived with that agony until now.

Relief floods her body and Emma's eyes fill with tears. She leans forward and kisses Killian hard. She was so happy to have him back and that he was okay.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Emma pants when they break apart.

"As am I, when I heard the gun shots I assumed the worst," he says.

Emma tries to go to work on freeing his feet.

Suddenly, a gun's hammer cocks into place. Emma freezes in place.

"How touching," a voice says. "A happy reunion for a swan and her pirate…"

Emma turns and tries to go for her own gun when a large foot kicks it out of her reach. She feels the barrel of the gun go into her forehead.

Emma does her best to remain brave, she can hear Killian struggling again, trying to break free to help her. She slowly raises her eyes to the shadowed figure pointing the gun at her.

"It's a shame that all good things must come to an end," the voice sneers.

"If you touch her…" Killian warns.

"I highly doubt you're in a position to threaten me, Jones, considering you'll be the first one to die."

"Give me the file Swan," the figure says.

"I'll give it to you if you tell me who the hell you are and why you did this?"

The figure laughs. Emma feels the barrel of the gun come away from her head, allowing her to stand up and be near Killian. She hears the man's footsteps walk back towards the stairs, still laughing.

"What's the matter Swan, don't you remember me?" the voice says before the entire basement is flooded with light. "I thought you'd recognize the man you almost married…"


	15. Chapter 15: The Reveal

Emma's heart dropped to her stomach. She blinks hard to make sure she's not seeing things.

"Joel?" Emma gasps. Killian is equally surprised.

"That's my name now, but back then you knew me as…"

"Walsh," Emma finishes. She can't believe she didn't see it before, no wonder he looked familiar and the fact that he was from Boston, Boston prison that is…

"Surprised to see me?" Walsh grins, holding his gun up again.

Emma doesn't speak, she's at a loss for words. Killian is utterly confused, wondering why a man of the law would abduct him and how he would know Emma so well.

"I told you then that I would find you and I was true to my word," he chuckles to himself. "Especially after you broke my heart and had me thrown in prison."

"You left me no choice…" Emma whispers, still recovering from the shock. She can feel her eyes filling with tears as the wave of emotional memories come back.

"Swan…" Killian says. "Who is this man?"

"He was one of my last clients before we moved here, I granted him bail after he was accused of armed robbery…"

"I was also her fiancé," Walsh says with a grin. Emma grimaces as if Walsh had just kicked her in the stomach.

Killian's eyes go wide in shock.

"How does that feel pirate?" Walsh smirks, enjoying Killian's discomfort at this realization. "To realize that she's damaged goods and she loved someone other than you."

"I never loved you," Emma snaps. "After I found out what you were."

"Really? Because you seemed to fight pretty hard to pay my bail and keep me out of prison," Walsh smiles.

"I wanted to believe him when he said he was framed for it," Emma tells Killian. "But the more I learned about the case, the more I realized what he was capable of and what he'd done, so I had his bail revoked and I ended the engagement."

"Left me to rot in prison…after you said you would stand by me no matter what!" Walsh says, venom in his words. He raises his gun again.

"When I learned who you were on the inside, a psychotic, greedy maniac. I had to protect my son… and myself"

"Where's that protection now?" Walsh grins. "I bided my time. I managed a "great escape" and went back to **our** apartment, only to find that you and that little freak had moved. I knew that only you had the evidence that could put me away again. It took me a while, but I found you in this dump of a town and decided I could get even with you. I dyed my hair, I changed my name…easy enough, got a job and I waited for my chance. It wasn't till I broke into Hopper's office that I learned your address. When I couldn't find the folder in your house, I knew I'd have to extort it from you and low a behold, the pirate walked by…"

"You went through all this just to grab a file?" Emma asks in bewilderment.

"Hardly, Emma. You know that's not my style," Walsh approaches them. Emma stands by Killian bravely, despite being unarmed. "You left me with nothing and I'm simply going to return the favour."

Walsh presses the gun to Killian's temple. The pirate does his best to remain brave, even in the face of death.

"As long as you live, I'll never be free from being convicted. Once I kill you two, I'm going to kill your friends upstairs and then find that brat of yours. With the evidence destroyed and no witnesses, I'll finally be free!" The maniac begins laughing again, much like a villain in a movie or TV show.

Emma seizes her chance while he's distracted, she tackles Walsh to the ground, trying to get the gun out of his hand. The two wrestle on the ground, Emma punching him and using various fighting tactics she's learned over the years. Killian struggles desperately to help her, but his bonds hold strong. Emma's about to pull him into a position where her knee is on his back and she has one of his arms held up, ready to break it if necessary. Then Walsh starts to laugh extremely hard, like a maniac, like some demented clown and it sends chills down Emma and Killian's spines. This causes Emma to pause in shock and confusion.

Walsh continues to laugh so hard he's gasping for breath.

"I remember when I taught you this move! It was after date night. We'd just watched a spy movie and I dared you to try and take me down and you know what…?"

Walsh suddenly twists his arm in such a way that Emma loses her grasp on him. He practically bucks her off his back. He manages to kick Emma in the stomach, causing the folder to fall out of her coat. She crumples to the floor in pain and Walsh snatches the folder.

"Swan!" Killian yells.

"You're not the only one who learned a few things in prison!" he laughs loudly. Walsh then grabs one of the nearby guns. He stands up and takes aim at Killian's forehead.

"Any last words pirate?" he asks with a smile.

Emma fighting to get up, but the impact in the stomach making her too weak to move. She can feel tears going down her face, she locks eyes with Killian. She's never felt so helpless and now she would never see Killian's bright blue eyes again.

"Swan…I…" Killian says.

"Say good-bye to all that you love Emma…" Walsh sneers.

"Mom?!" a voice is heard from the top of the stairs.

At that moment, Emma's entire world crashes down around her. Her heart beat hits overdrive. She tries to find her voice, but can't. Her nightmare of losing her son is about to come true! She cries harder as she tries to get up.

 _How did he…? Where did he…? Why…?_

"You know some people seek personal counseling after a breakup…" another voice calls down into the basement. "You, my friend, take it to the extreme, You're like…"

"Del Hanney in _Straw Dogs_ ," Henry finishes.

"Or Mark Walberg in _Fear_ ," Crystal adds. "A complete psycho. You're like Norman Bates but without the cross-dressing and 'Mommy' issues"

"Oh, that's a good one," Henry laughs.

Walsh turns bright red; he takes his gun away from Killian's head.

"Who's up there?"

"The little freak," is the response.

"And another witness," Crystal adds. "You know Joel… sorry, Walsh. Emma missed something when she brought the folder out…and we happen to have it… The last piece of evidence that can still get you convicted."

"What are you…" Emma wheezes.

"Too bad you don't have the guts to come get it…" Henry taunts. "You know I always hated you when you were dating my Mom, guess the feeling was mutual."

"I guess he doesn't have the guts to come and say it to your face," Crystal says.

"We'll see about that you little…" Walsh screams.

Walsh barrels towards the staircase, gun flailing wildly. He races up the creaky stairs, tripping half way. The two kids laugh.

"What a loser," Crystal says.

Walsh regains his footing and goes after them.

Emma finally finds her strength to get up, she had to go help, Henry…

"Swan…" Killian says. "Quick there's a knife in my back pocket."

Emma stumbles over and finds the knife. She cuts Killian free. He grabs his wrists, happy to be released.

"Come on…" the pirate says.

Emma retrieves her gun and the two head upstairs, holding hands.

There's a smash outside, like the shattering of glass, making Emma freak out, assuming the worst.

The two reach the back door…

…

Walsh lays on the rotting porch, completely knocked out cold. The remains of a flower pot and a few rocks are scattered around him. Standing over him are David with his gun, Mary Margret, Regina, Crystal and Henry.

"I told you it would work," Crystal says with a satisfied grin, her arms folded.

Emma immediately rushes over and hugs Henry. She can feel her anger come boiling to the surface.

"You are in so much trouble mister…" Emma shouts through tears. "What were you thinking putting yourself in danger like that? I told you to stay home! What if…?"

"I'm sorry Mom, but you and Killian were about to die, so I…"

"It was my fault, Emma," Crystal says. "I convinced him to come out here. So yell at me, not him…"

Emma pauses for a moment. She looks down at Henry and then at Crystal. Her anger has subsided a bit, just enough for her to think more clearly. If these two hadn't done something, all of them would most likely be dead and no one would know it, Walsh would have gotten away and who knows what might've happened next.

"I'm sorry Mom," Henry sighs. "I'll take whatever grounding you give me…"

Emma's quiet for a moment. She looks over at Killian, who looks at her sympathetically and basically dares her to yell at him any further.

"You're not in trouble…" Emma says finally. "As much as I hate to say it… you guys did save our lives, solve the mystery and stop a deranged man…How can anyone be mad about that?"

Henry looks at his mom with a big smile.

"You did good kid," Emma smiles back.

"This way officers," Lacey's voice can be heard.

There are sirens in the distance and police with flashlights come around the house, Lacey and Graham leading the group. The cops cuff Walsh and force him to his feet. They impound the van and secure the house.

"You are some brave people," one of the officers says. "Managing to take down a violent and psychotic criminal like this. The cops in Boston have been looking for him for weeks. He won't be getting out anytime soon, we're probably going to send him to maximum security. I'm sure the police will want to reward you."

"It was nothing," Lacey says. "Just remember that I did the research about Victorian houses."

Everyone rolls their eyes. Graham immediately begins apologizing to Emma for not answering the phone and he's still getting over the shock that his deputy was a wanted criminal. Emma leans into Killian, who kisses the top of her head. A couple of paramedics offer to take care of his wound, but he waves them away for awhile. Emma hugs Henry tightly, smiling in pride and relief.

"Let's go home," David says. "I want to make sure that Ruby hasn't eaten those doughnuts I have stored in the fridge."

"I can't, I have to go to the office and get all this written down!" Regina says excitedly.

Again everyone rolls their eyes.

"Anyone who wants to hitch a ride in my dad's rust bucket, speak now," Crystal calls out.

Emma, Killian, and Henry walk towards the yellow bug.

Once Henry climbs into the back, Emma turns around and kisses Killian deeply.

"So what were you going to say as your last words?" Emma asks quietly.

Killian blushes. "I was going to say that I loved you…"

"I think we're a little early in the relationship to be saying that."

"So we're in a relationship?" Killian raises his eyebrow.

"We are indeed," Emma smiles. "I still want to keep it low-key for a little while longer if that's okay?"

"Swan, you just saved my life, I'll do whatever you want me to do," the pirate says with a mischievous wink.

"Technically Henry and Crystal did, but I'm willing to overlook the details," she leans in again and kisses him deeply. She pulls him in closely. For once, in this moment, her feelings are coming first. She wants to be with him for as long as possible, she can't get enough of him and this time, she trusts that he isn't an obsessive, psychotic maniac. He's the one she wants.

"So," Emma says once they break apart. "Are there any psychotic ex- girlfriends I should know about?"


	16. Chapter 16: What's Next?

The following day, Crystal walks into the restaurant the following day to find Emma, Killian, Henry, Mary Margret, David, baby Neo and Regina sharing a table and breakfast specials. They smile when they see her.

"Morning everyone," Crystal says, pulling up a chair.

"Morning, so what did your dad have to say about last night's events?" Mary Margret asks.

"The only thing he was mad about was the fact that I took his van with his girlfriend in the back of it," Crystal says with a smile.

"You'd think he'd ask more about how his daughter managed to take down a dangerous criminal," Regina says.

"Maybe he read all about it in the newspaper," Crystal says, holding it up.

"You should've seen my mom's face when she opened the morning paper. Sydney didn't fight me at all in what I wanted to print. I think this will be the most successful copy of the paper ever."

She wasn't far off; Crystal saw the news stands this morning were crowded with people wanting to read this breaking news. The entire story took up practically the whole paper, Regina spared no detail. The headline was, _Break-in Convict caught by Mystery Inc._ Regina had already ordered multiple frames for this edition.

"Why the name Mystery Inc.?" David asks.

"It just sounded catchy," Regina explains.

"I must admit, we did make a good team," Mary Margret says, bouncing Neal in her lap.

"Aye," Killian agrees. "Although next time, I'd prefer not to be the damsel in distress…"

Everyone laughs. Ruby comes over and Crystal orders herself some breakfast and coffee.

Crystal's phone suddenly begins to vibrate in her pocket.

It's a text from Lacey.

 _Museum just called saying it's having problems, want to know if Mystery Inc. can help?_

Crystal practically gasps in surprise. She assumed that this mystery-solving team was a one-time thing, but she did have fun… a lot of fun. They could do it again…

Her phone buzzes again.

 _They are willing to offer a big reward for help._ _If you say yes, I'm in :)_

Crystal looks up at her friends and then at her phone. She smiles.

"Hey, guys…?"


	17. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hello everyone, Number Ten here. This is the end of Book 1: Exes and Uh Oh! I hope you liked it. Please review, favourite and give me some feedback because I might turn it into a series. Special thanks to colormyheartred for inspiring me.

See you guys real soon.


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